Pediatric Infectious Diseases: Open Access

Human metapneumovirus in children

In hospitalised children, Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a common source of lower respiratory tract infections, but the age-related incidence and effects of hMPV in unselected children in the community have not been studied. During the 2000–2001, a group of 1,338 children aged 13 years were evaluated. hMPV was found in 47 (3.5%) of the 1,338 children tested. Children under the age of two years old had the highest rate of hMPV infection (7.6%), accounting for 1.7 % of all infections during the season. hMPV was responsible for 7.1 % of all respiratory infections in the cohort during the epidemic's height. 61 % of hMPV-infected children under the age of three developed acute otitis media. The impact of hMPV in the community is greatest in children under the age of two, according to our data.

Liam Emma