JCM Accepts, published online ahead of print on 24 June 2009

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J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.00115-09
Copyright (c) 2009, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Emerging Genotypes of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Subgroup A in Japan

Yugo Shobugawa^*, Reiko Saito, Yasuko Sano, Hassan Zaraket, Yasushi Suzuki, Akihiko Kumaki, Isolde Dapat, Taeko Oguma, Masahiro Yamaguchi, and Hiroshi Suzuki

Division of Public Health, Department of Infectious Control and International Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan; Sano Clinic, Niigata, Japan

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: yugo{at}med.niigata-u.ac.jp.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is a common etiological agent of acute lower respiratory tract disease in infants. We report the molecular epidemiology of HRSV in Niigata, Japan over six successive seasons (2001-2007) and the emerging genotypes of HRSV-A strains. A total of 488 HRSV samples were obtained from 1,103 screened cases in a pediatric clinic in Niigata. According to the phylogenetic analysis, among the PCR positive samples, 338 HRSV-A strains clustered into previously reported genotypes GA5 and GA7, and two novel genotypes NA1 and NA2, which were genetically close to GA2 strains. One hundred fifty HRSV-B strains clustered into three genotypes, namely GB3, SAB3, and BA, which has a 60-nucleotide insertion in the second hypervariable region of G protein. The NA1 strains first emerged in the 2004/05 season and subsequently, the NA2 strain in the 2005/06 season. Both strains caused large epidemics in the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons. The average age of children who were infected with NA2 strains was significantly higher than those infected with GA5, and the frequency of re-infection by NA2 was the highest among all genotypes, suggesting that this genotype possessed new antigenicity for evading past host immunity.

This is the first paper to show a possible correlation between an emerging genotype NA2 and big outbreaks of HRSV in Japan. Continuing studies to follow up the genetic changes and to clarify the mechanism of re-infection in HRSV are important steps to understand HRSV infections.

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