Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Greece, 2016-2018

Katerina Tsergouli; Styliani Pappa; Katerina Haidopoulou; Maria Gogou; Andreas Giannopoulos; Anna Papa

doi:10.1159/000506049

Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Greece, 2016-2018

Intervirology. 2019;62(5-6):210-215. doi: 10.1159/000506049. Epub 2020 Apr 29.

Authors

Katerina Tsergouli¹, Styliani Pappa¹, Katerina Haidopoulou², Maria Gogou², Andreas Giannopoulos², Anna Papa³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
² Second Pediatric Department, AHEPA Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
³ Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, annap@auth.gr.

PMID: 32348998
DOI: 10.1159/000506049

Abstract

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of acute bronchiolitis in infants and young children. Children under the age of 2 years, hospitalized for bronchiolitis in the pediatric clinic of a tertiary hospital in northern Greece, were tested for RSV infection during two RSV seasons (2016-2017 and 2017-2018). RSV was detected in 37 of 71 (52.1%) patients, most of them younger than 6 months. Both RSV subtypes were detected - RSV-A (54.1%) and RSV-B (45.9%) - with predominance of RSV-A during the 2016-2017 and RSV-B during the 2017-2018 season. RSV-A and RSV-B sequences clustered within the ON1 and BA genotypes, respectively. Compared to the prototype strains, several amino acid substitutions were observed in the duplication region of the G gene. The study provides a first insight into the molecular epidemiology of RSV in Greece.

Keywords: Bronchiolitis; Children; Genotypes; Greece; Respiratory syncytial virus; Subtypes.

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