Human Metapneumovirus in Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Bronchiolitis

Abstract

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to detect segments of the M (matrix), N (nucleoprotein), and F (fusion) genes of human metapneumovirus in bronchoalveolar fluid from 30 infants with severe respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis. Seventy percent of them were coinfected with metapneumovirus. Such coinfection might be a factor influencing the severity of bronchiolitis.

Keywords

• severe bronchiolitis
• RT-PCR
• dispatch
• Human metapneumovirus
• respiratory syncytial virus
• United Kingdom