Human metapneumovirus: A new respiratory pathogen

S. Broor, P. Bharaj, H. S. Chahar

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Human metapneumovirus is a recently recognized pathogen of acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) in children as well as elderly and immunocompromised adults. The virus belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae, sub family Pneumovirinae and genus Metapneumovirus. Through genetic analysis it has been characterized into two groups A and B which are further divided into four sub-lineages. The virus is difficult to grow in tissue culture and hence reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for N and L gene is the method of choice for diagnosis. The virus has been seen in all countries with seasonal distribution in winter months for temperate and spring/summer for tropical countries. F gene is the most conserved among different lineages and efforts are underway to design recombination vaccine using F gene.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)483-493
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Biosciences
Volume33
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Acute respiratory infections
  • Human metapneumovirus

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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