Viral load of human bocavirus-1 in stools from children with viral diarrhoea in Paraguay

Epidemiol Infect. 2013 Dec;141(12):2576-80. doi: 10.1017/S095026881300023X. Epub 2013 Feb 21.

Abstract

Since their discovery, four species of human bocavirus (HBoV) have been described in patients with respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. However, a clear causal association between HBoV-1 and gastroenteritis has not been demonstrated. In this study, we describe the detection and quantification of HBoV-1 in stools from children with acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. HBoV-1 genome was detected in 10.6% of stools with frequent association with rotavirus and norovirus. The median of HBoV-1 viral load was 1.88 × 104 genome/ml, lower than previously shown in secretions of patients with respiratory infections, without any obvious association between high viral load and presence of HBoV as single agent. Thus, although HBoV-1 was frequently detected in these patients, there is no clear causal association of this agent with diarrhoea. Indeed, HBoV-1 DNA in stools of patients with gastroenteritis without respiratory symptoms may be a remnant of previous infections or associated with prolonged shedding of virus in the respiratory or digestive tracts.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Child, Preschool
  • Coinfection / virology
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Diarrhea / virology*
  • Feces / virology*
  • Female
  • Gastroenteritis / virology
  • Human bocavirus / isolation & purification*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Paraguay / epidemiology
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Viral Load*
  • Virus Diseases / virology*