Abstract
Purpose:To investigate human coronavirus (HCoV) infection with acute respiratory tract infection in children in the Xiamen area, China, and to analyze the clinical features of HCoV infection in children.
Methods: A total of 15 283 children with acute respiratory tract infection were hospitalized in Xiamen City Children's Hospital from January 2021 to June 2023. Nasopharyngeal swabs from these children were assessed for the presence 13 respiratory tract-associated viruses, namely, Influenza A virus, adenovirus, bocavirus, rhinovirus, human coronavirus, influenza A virus H1N1, parainfluenza virus, chlamydia, metapneumovirus, influenza B virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and seasonal H3N2 virus using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. The clinical symptoms and signs of HCoV-positive children were analyzed and compared with those of RSV-infected children hospitalized during the same period.
Results:(1) Of the 15 283 children with acute respiratory infections, 8624 were positive for HCoV.(2) The HCoV detection rate was 0.87% (54/6230) during 2021, 0.82% (53/6439) during 2022, and 1.53% (40/2612) during 2023. The HCoV detection rates (%) for January to December were 0.98, 0.86, 0.83, 0.96, 0.67, 0.57, 0.66, 0.98, 1.02, 1.66, 1.89 and 1.23, respectively.(3) Eighty cases of acute respiratory tract infection with HCoV alone were hospitalized, including 33 cases of bronchopneumonia, 23 cases of acute bronchitis, 10 of acute tonsillitis, 10 of acute tonsillitis, and 4 of acute laryngitis.(4) The common clinical manifestations of HCoV-only infection were cough (72 cases), fever (64 cases), and wheezing (23 cases).(5) The proportion of wheezing in the RSV group was significantly higher than that in the HCoV group (P<0.05), but there were no significant differences observed in other clinical manifestations, the incidence of complications, and proportion of cases requiring mechanical ventilation between HCoV group and 103 RSV infected children (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Between January 2021 and June 2023, the detection rate of HCoV in Xiamen was 0.96%. The clinical manifestations and severity of acute respiratory tract infections due to HCoV were similar to those with respiratory syncytial virus infection.