Detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Human Metapneumovirus in Children with Respiratory Tract Infection by Use Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Background: Respiratory tract illness is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children, elderly and immunocompromised patients worldwide. Objective: To determine the infection rate of respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus among children with respiratory tract infection in Baghdad city. Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study was based on the processing of nasopharyngeal swabs from 150 children with acute respiratory tract infections, (81) males and (69)females; aged under five years old, who was admitted to Al-Imamin Al-Kadhimin Medical City and Pediatrics Protection Hospital in Baghdad during the period from December 2017 till April 2018. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from each participant and stored as frozen at -70 °C to use for RNA extraction and real time- polymerase chain reaction. Results: Out of all these samples, 54 samples were positive for respiratory syncytial virus (36%) and human metapneumovirus (1.33%). The infection rate of respiratory syncytial virus is more common in males (57.41%) than females and in children ≤ one year (37.04%) also high frequency were noticed among patients live in an urban area (72.22%) (50%) respectively and winter. According to different clinical feature, fever, cough, and wheezing were more common. Conclusion: The infection rate of respiratory syncytial virus was more than human metapneumovirus in children with respiratory tract infection using real time-PCR technique and the clinical manifestations were more common during respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus infection are cough, fever, wheezing.