Detection of Human Bocavirus DNA by Multiplex PCR Analysis: Postmortem Case Report

Abstract

Background: Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a virus belonging to the Parvoviridae family, which has been newly discovered to be associated with respiratory tract infections in children. There are many reports worldwide on the endemicity of this virus. Since it is relatively new, it is not routinely detected in clinical laboratory investigations. Case Report: We demonstrated that HBoV infection caused the death of a 5-month-old girl with a history of high fever and wheezing. Human bocavirus (HBoV 1/2/3/4) was found in a nasopharyngeal swab, paraffin-embedded lung tissue and stool samples by multiplex PCR methods using postmortem microbiological analysis. Conclusion: This case suggests that lower respiratory tract infections due to HBoV may cause severe and life-threatening diseases. Postmortem microbiology is useful in both clinical and forensic autopsies, and allows a suspected infection to be confirmed. To our knowledge, this report is the first document of a HBoV postmortem case in Turkey.

Keywords

• Autopsy
• forensic science
• human bocavirus
• multiplex PCR
• postmortem microbiology
• respiratory tract infection