Epidemiology of Human Parechovirus Type 3 Upsurge in 2 Hospitals, Freiburg, Germany, 2018

Abstract

In 2018, a cluster of pediatric human parechovirus (HPeV) infections in 2 neighboring German hospitals was detected. Viral protein 1 sequence analysis demonstrated co-circulation of different HPeV-3 sublineages and of HPeV-1 and -5 strains, thereby excluding a nosocomial outbreak. Our findings underline the need for HPeV diagnostics and sequence analysis for outbreak investigations.

Keywords

• parechovirus
• pediatric
• outbreak
• VP1 sequence
• phylogeny
• surveillance