In children, the respiratory syncytial virus and adenovirus majorly cause acute respiratory infections. The study evaluated the seroprevalence and conducted the molecular characterization of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) and human adenovirus (HAdV) among children. Venous blood, nasopharyngeal, and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from children presenting with acute respiratory infections in a tertiary health facility in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. A serological investigation was carried out on the sera samples for the detection of anti-HRSV immunoglobulin M (IgM), anti-HRSV IgG, anti-HAdV IgM, and anti-HAdV IgG using ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) kits. The amplification and sequencing of HRSV and HAdV were carried out using specific primer pairs that targeted the glycoprotein (G) gene of HRSV and the hexon gene of HAdV, respectively. The seroprevalence of HRSV IgG and IgM was 73% and 7.5%, respectively, while the seroprevalence of HAdV IgG and IgM was 98.5% and 8.5%, respectively. The age of enrolled children, presence of fever, and cough were associated (p < 0.05) with the infection. HRSV subtype B (HRSV-B) (13.3%), and species of HAdV (Mastadenovirus B and C) (11.7%) were detected among the studied population. There was no viral coinfection with both HRSV and HAdV. In infancy and early childhood, HRSV-B, HAdV species B and C are common etiologic agents of respiratory infections as reported in this study. Further studies on molecular characterization of respiratory tract viruses including circulating respiratory syncytial virus and adenovirus are hereby advocated.
Keywords: adenovirus; molecular characterization; respiratory syncytial virus; seroprevalence.
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