Human Metapneumovirus and Influenza Viruses in Children with Severe Acute Respiratory Infections in Iran

Background: Influenza viruses and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) are among the common causes of acute respiratory tract infections in children worldwide. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of HMPV and influenza viruses in children less than 5 years old hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) during 2013-2016. Methods: For this study, 770 nasopharyngeal swabs from children with SARIs were tested for detection of influenza viruses by One step real time RT-PCR method in National Influenza Center, Tehran, Iran. Influenza virus negative samples were tested for HMPV using One step RT-PCR kit. Results: Influenza viruses were detected in 263 of 770 specimens (34%) with influenza A/H1N1 being the prominent subtype. All 507 influenza negative samples were tested for HMPV. HMPV was detected in 7 (1.4%) cases. Conclusion: In this research two different viruses were detected in 35% of cases, the remaining 65% of the patients might have been infected by other viruses or bacteria. Active surveillance studies with large sample size in different geographical regions and population based studies besides hospitalized patients with SARIs are needed to obtain more data about respiratory infections epidemiology.