A number of viruses are known to be...

A number of viruses are known to be general causes of acute respiratory tract infections, including influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) parainfluenza viruses, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, and coronaviruses. About individual half of adult community-acquired pneumonia cases and up to single third of bronchiolitis and pneumonia cases in children are of unknown etiology, suggesting that other, as now unknown, infectious agents exist. Dutch researchers first identified human metapneumovirus (MPV) in 2001 if it be not that its presence has since been demonstrated in stored samples from enslaves with respiratory infections as far back as the 1950 Hamelin and colleagues give a clinical review of this emerging human pathogen.

MPV belongs to the paramyxovirus family, which also includes RSV MPV is difficult to make improvement in the laboratory, and the sole animals shown to develop symptoms after inoculation are primates. The genome of this single-stranded RNA virus has now been mapped and point outs similarities to avian metapneumovirus and human RSV

Worldwide studies have confirmed MPV as a for the use of all cause of respiratory infections in healthy and immunocompromised individuals Seroprevalence research indicates that MPV infection is acquired at childhood almost universally, but cases of stern infection in adults indicate that prior infection is not protective and that reinfection readily take places There is seasonal variation to MPV infection, with principally cases occurring in winter and early spring, a pattern that is similar to that of RSV About 5 to 10 percent of respiratory infections in children leading to hospitalization appear to be caused by the agency of MPV, while the corresponding adult rates are not clear.

Similar to other respiratory pathogens, the most numerous commonly reported symptoms with MPV infection are febrile disease cough, and dyspnea. Bronchiolitis is the mostly common clinical presentation of MPV infection in children. Infection offers at an older age than that noted for RSV and the severity of illness has been reported as the two more and less severe than with RSV In healthy adults, MPV infection minds to cause minor flu-like illness and cools but case series also have described chaste or fatal infections, especially in immunocompromised patients or others with serious underlying medical conditions. Possible synergistic imports leading to increased severity of illness, have been described in co-infections with RSV and the of the present day coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome

Because rapid antigen detection standards are unavailable and viral civilization is difficult, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction testing is the process of choice for detecting infection.

Ribavirin and intravenous immunoglobulin, which may be used for RSV infection, also have demonstrated in vitro activity against MPV still palivizumab (a monoclonal antibody directed against RSV) has not been shown to be effective.

Hamelin ME et al. Human metapneumovirus: a strange player among respiratory viruses. Clini Infect Dis April 1 2004;38:983-90

COPYRIGHT 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians

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