Human Metapneumovirus Infection Plays an Etiologic Role in Acute Asthma Exacerbations Requiring Hospitalization in Adults

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 192; no. 7; pp. 1149 - 1153
• Main Authors: Williams, John V., Crowe, James E., Enriquez, Rachel, Minton, Patricia, Peebles, R. Stokes, Hamilton, Robert G., Higgins, Stanley, Griffin, Marie, Hartert, Tina V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The University of Chicago Press 01.10.2005; University of Chicago Press; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Aged; Asthma; Asthma - etiology; Asthma - physiopathology; Children; Female; Hospitalization; Human metapneumovirus; Humans; Infections; Male; Metapneumovirus; Metapneumovirus - classification; Metapneumovirus - genetics; Metapneumovirus - isolation & purification; Middle Aged; Paramyxoviridae Infections - complications; Paramyxoviridae Infections - epidemiology; Polymerase chain reaction; Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Rhinovirus; Severity of Illness Index; Symptoms; Viruses
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/444392

We determined the prevalence of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection in adults with asthma who were prospectively enrolled after hospitalization for an acute asthma exacerbation. Nasal wash specimens collected at admission and 3 months after discharge were tested for hMPV by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. hMPV was detected in 7 (6.9%) of 101 subjects at hospitalization and in 1 (1.3%) of 75 subjects at follow-up (odds ratio, 7 [95% confidence interval, 0.9–312]; P=.03). None of the patients with hMPV infection at hospitalization tested positive at follow-up, strongly suggesting that hMPV plays a direct etiologic role in acute asthma exacerbations