Aim: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of Human Bocavirus isolates among Iranian patients suffering from acute gastroenteritis.
Background: Human Bocavirus is a new parvovirus that has been identified in association with gastroenteritis. Limited data are available about HBoV in Iran.
Patients and methods: Viral DNA was extracted from all 294 stool samples. HBoV DNA was detected in extracted samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of a 354 bp of noncapsid protein 1 (NP1) gene. In addition, all samples were also subjected to a nested PCR to amplify a 455 bp of nonstructural 1 (NS1) gene.
Results: The main clinical symptoms among HBoV positive patients were diarrhea (77.7%), fever (62.9%), vomiting (55.5%), and anorexia (59.2%). NP1 PCR was positive in 8 samples (2.72%), NS1 was positive in 16 patients (5.44%) and 3 samples had positive results in both regions (1.02%).
Conclusion: Our results suggest that HBoV could be considered as one of the important etiologic agents of acute gastroenteritis cases in Iran.
Keywords: Acute gastroenteritis; Human Bocavirus; Iran.