Respiratory infections associated with enterovirus D68 from 2011 to 2015 in Beijing, China

Zhang, Tiegang; Li, Aihua; Chen, Meng; Wu, Jiang; Huang, Fang

Enterovirus D68 (EV‐D68) is an emergent viral pathogen associated with mild to severe respiratory infections. In this study, we describe respiratory infections associated with EV‐D68 in Beijing over a 4 year period. Total nucleic acid was extracted from 7,945 clinical specimens collected between January 5, 2011 and July 30, 2015 in Beijing and used for detecting EV‐D68 and other enteroviruses by real‐time PCR. Overall, 555/7,945 (6.99%) specimens were enterovirus positive: 12/7,945 (0.2%) specimens were EV‐D68 positive. Of these patients, 11 were pediatric patients and 1 was a 76‐year‐old man. The main symptoms for the 12 EV‐D68 positive patients were fever (10/12, 83.3%) and cough (6/12, 50%). Ten EV‐D68 infection cases were identified in autumn or winter season. The phylogenetic relationships of the 12 EV‐D68 viral strains with other strains were analyzed based on the sequences of viral protein 1(VP1). The EV‐D68 strains from 2011 to 2013 belonged to groups 1 or 3, while all strains in 2014 were clustered into group 1 together with the strains circulating in the USA. In conclusion, EV‐D68 played a role in respiratory infections in Beijing during this period. In addition, the most common EV‐D68 strain detected was similar to that circulating in the USA in 2014. J. Med. Virol. 88:1529–1534, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.