High genetic diversity of human rhinovirus among pilgrims with acute respiratory tract infections during the 2019 Hajj pilgrimage season

Sherif A El-Kafrawy; Salma M Alsayed; Thamir A Alandijany; Leena H Bajrai; Arwa A Faizo; Hessa A Al-Sharif; Ahmed M Hassan; Khalid M Alquthami; Jaffar A Al-Tawfiq; Alimuddin Zumla; Esam I Azhar

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2022.05.027

High genetic diversity of human rhinovirus among pilgrims with acute respiratory tract infections during the 2019 Hajj pilgrimage season

Int J Infect Dis. 2022 Aug:121:130-137. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.05.027. Epub 2022 May 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Special Infectious Agents Unit BSL-3, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia.
² Special Infectious Agents Unit BSL-3, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; Department of Nursing, Faculty of Al-Qunfudah Health Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, 28821, Saudi Arabia.
³ Special Infectious Agents Unit BSL-3, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; Department of Nursing, Faculty of Al-Qunfudah Health Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, 28821, Saudi Arabia; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Special Infectious Agents Unit BSL-3, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Ministry of Health, Makkah, 24241, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Infectious Disease Unit, Specialty Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Infectious Disease Division, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁷ Special Infectious Agents Unit BSL-3, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; Division of Infection and Immunity, Centre for Clinical Microbiology, University College London Royal Free Campus, London, WC1E 6DE, UK; NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, W1T 7DN, UK.
⁸ Special Infectious Agents Unit BSL-3, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: eazhar@kau.edu.sa.

PMID: 35577249
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.05.027

Abstract

Objectives: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) due to human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are common in pilgrims during the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity of HRV among pilgrims with respiratory symptoms during Hajj 2019.

Methods: HRV infection was detected using multiplex real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Cycle sequencing was performed on positive samples and the sequences were subjected to phylogenetic analysis.

Results: A total of 19 HRV-positive respiratory samples were sequenced. All three serotypes of HRV were identified: HRV-A (13; 68.42%) was more common than HRV-B (2; 10.53%) and HRV-C (4; 21.05%). HRV-A species were found to be of genotypes A101, A21, A30, A57, A23, A60, and A11. HRV-B species belonged to genotypes B4 and B84, and HRV-C species were of genotypes C15, C3, and C56.

Conclusion: Sequencing studies of respiratory tract viruses in pilgrims are important. We provide preliminary evidence of high diversity of HRV genotypes circulating in pilgrims in a restricted area during Hajj. This requires further clinical and sequencing studies of viral pathogens in larger cohorts of overseas and local pilgrims.

Keywords: Genetic diversity; Hajj; Human rhinovirus; Respiratory viruses; Saudi Arabia.

MeSH terms

Genetic Variation
Humans
Islam
Phylogeny
Respiratory Tract Infections*
Rhinovirus* / genetics
Saudi Arabia / epidemiology
Seasons
Travel