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1] Date: Tue 23 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: Reuters Health, Mon 22 Aug 2005 [edited] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Swedish researchers said on Monday [22 Aug 2005] that they had identified a previously unknown virus which may cause many cases of serious respiratory infections in children. They named the virus Human bocavirus and suggested the researchers start a systematic search for all the viruses that cause respiratory infections. The report, published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underlines how little doctors know about the sources of most respiratory infections. ------------------------------------------------------------- A separate team of California researchers found they could identify only about 40 percent of viruses infecting patients, and both teams said rapid testing for viruses would be useful in diagnosing and treating respiratory illnesses. Health experts say this step was particularly important because there are fears that influenza, in particular avian influenza, could cause a global pandemic. Being able to test quickly to find out what is making someone sick can mean the difference between life and death, because antiviral medications must be given early on to prevent serious illness in the case of influenza. ------------------------------------------------------------- In their sample of 540 children in a pediatric hospital ward, the new bocavirus was responsible for 17 of the cases, the Swedish researchers found. "Lower respiratory tract infection is a leading cause for hospitalization of infants and young children and accounts for 250 000 hospitalizations a year in the United States alone," Tobias Allander of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and colleagues wrote in their report. ------------------------------------------------------------- "The most important viral agent in this group of patients is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Other important agents are influenza viruses, parainfluenza viruses, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, and human metapneumovirus." But the causes of between 12 percent and 39 percent of these serious infections are never identified," the researchers said. ------------------------------------------------------------- In a 2nd study, Janice Louie of the California Department of Health Services, Lawrence Drew of the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues checked patients reporting to the hospital with flu-like illness including "unspecified upper respiratory infection," acute bronchitis, sinus infections, and pneumonia. They could identify a virus in only 103, or 39 percent, of the patients. These included influenza A or B in 54 patients, picornavirus in 28, RSV in 12, human metapneumovirus in four and human coronavirus OC43 in 2 patients. --------------------------------------------------------------- --- ProMED-mail ****** [2] Date: Tue 23 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: Reuters Health, Mon 22 Aug 2005 [edited] ------------------------------------------------------------- A new human virus, provisionally named human bocavirus, has been identified in the respiratory secretions of children, according to a report released Monday. "Our approach and methodology are similar to [those] of the human genome project," Dr. Tobias Allander from Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, told Reuters Health. "Our finding of a rather prevalent previously unknown pathogen suggests that the screening is worth pursuing in a larger scale." ------------------------------------------------------------- The new virus is similar to 2 related members of the Bocavirus family that infect cattle and dogs, report Allander and colleagues. Consequently, they propose the name "human bocavirus (HBoV)" for the new virus, writing in the research journal PNAS Early Edition. The virus was first spotted in 2 specimens from Asian patients. ------------------------------------------------------------- In a later series of screenings, 17 of 540 nasal samples proved to be positive for HBoV, the researchers found, and in 14 cases it was the only virus detected. All 14 children with HBoV for whom records were available had respiratory illness for 1-4 days prior to hospital admission. None of the HBoV-infected children had gastrointestinal symptoms, conjunctivitis or rash, the authors say. ------------------------------------------------------------- "We will of course perform additional studies on human bocavirus," Allander said. "However, in order to sort out the epidemiology, disease association, and other aspects of this infection, multiple studies from all around the world will likely be more important." ------------------------------------------------------------- To identify other viruses, Allander explained, "we are working on a number of sample collections in collaboration with clinicians. However, we believe that the most fruitful future approach will be a broad and unbiased exploration of the viruses that infect humans, a 'human virome' project. We think such a collaborative project should be seriously discussed." There are many diseases with no known cause, "and some of them have similarities to virus infections," he concluded. "Therefore, virus discovery is an urgent scientific task." [Byline: Will Boggs, MD] ------------------------------------------------------------ -- ProMED-mail [At the time of posting this report, Dr Allander and colleagues' publication has appeared in neither the current issue of PNAS nor the 22 Aug 2005 Early Edition, so comment is reserved. ProMED-mail acknowledges receipt of the same reports from George Robertson and Mary Marshall. - Mod.CP] .........................cp/pg/mpp