Prevalence and genetic diversity analysis of human coronaviruses among cross-border children

Liu, Peilin; Shi, Lei; Zhang, Wei; He, Jianan; Liu, Chunxiao; Zhao, Chunzhong; Kong, Siu Kai; Loo, Jacky Fong Chuen; Gu, Dayong; Hu, Longfei

The detection rate of total HCoVs was 2.37% (95% CI: 1.8 to 2.8%) in this study was consistent with the previous studies. All the coronaviruses detected have been typed. OC43 was the most common coronaviruses in our study consistent with reports in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, USA and England [4, [18] [19] [20] Fig. 3 Mutation analysis on the S genes of OC43 and HKU1. a Bases substitution in S1 genes of OC43. b Extra insertion in putative RBD of HKU1 that the prevalence of NL63 was similar to or even higher than that of OC43 in Brazil, Kenya and Japan [3, [21] [22] [23] . 229E was detected in low levels throughout years as previous reports and thus the peak activity of 229E could not be determined. The HCoVs predominant circulating season was in transition of winter to spring, especially January and February. NL63 predominant circulating seasons were summer and fall, which were different from those reports of winter and spring in temperate countries, such as the USA and Netherlands [24, 25] . None of the infection was found in the 1-2 years old group, even though the number of sample of this group was higher than that of the infant age group. In summary, we had analyzed the prevalent and clinical characteristics of HCoVs infection in cross-border children in SZ-HK ports. Compared with previous reports, the detection rate and epidemic trend of coronaviruses were stable, and no obvious fluctuations were found. Yet, none of novel infectious coronaviruses, SARS and MERS were detected in this study.