Human coronaviruses are uncommon in patients with gastrointestinal illness

• Published in: Journal of clinical virology 2010-06, Vol.48 (2), p.131-133
• Main Authors: Esper, Frank, Ou, Zhen, Huang, Yung T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Allergy and Immunology; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Clostridium difficile; Coronavirus; Coronavirus - classification; Coronavirus - genetics; Coronavirus - isolation & purification; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - virology; Feces - virology; Female; Gastroenteritis - virology; Gastrointestinal disease; HKU1; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infectious Disease; Male; Middle Aged; NL63; Prevalence; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Viral - genetics; Viral Gastroenteritis; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1386-6532; 1873-5967
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2010.03.007

Abstract Background Coronaviruses infect numerous animal species causing a variety of illnesses including respiratory, neurologic and enteric disease. Human coronaviruses (HCoV) are mainly associated with respiratory tract disease but have been implicated in enteric disease. Objectives To investigate the frequency of coronaviruses in stool samples from children and adults with gastrointestinal illness by RT-PCR. Study design Clinical samples submitted for infectious diarrhea testing were collected from December 2007 through March 2008. RNA extraction and RT-PCR was performed for stools negative for Clostridium difficile using primer sets against HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-HKU1. Clinical data from samples positive for coronaviruses were reviewed and recorded. Results Samples from 479 patients were collected including 151 pediatric (≤18 years), and 328 adults (>18 years). Of these samples, 4 patients (1.3%, 2 adult; 2 pediatric) screened positive for the presence of a coronavirus. All detected coronaviruses were identified as HCoV-HKU1. No stools screened positive for either HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63 or HCoV-OC43. All HCoV-HKU1 positive samples occurred between mid-January to mid-February. Clinical manifestations from HCoV-HKU1 positive patients included diarrhea, emesis and respiratory complaints. Three (75%) patients were admitted to the hospital with a median length of stay of 6 days. Conclusions Coronaviruses as a group are not commonly identified in stool samples of patients presenting with gastrointestinal illness. HCoV-HKU1 can be identified in stool samples from children and adults with gastrointestinal disease, with most individuals having respiratory findings as well. No stool samples screened positive for HCoV-NL63, HCoV-229E, or HCoV-OC43.