A molecular epidemiological study of human respiratory syncytial virus in Croatia, 2011-2014

摘要

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) causes common respiratory tract infections in infants, young children and the elderly. The diversity of HRSV strains circulating in Croatia was investigated throughout a period of four consecutive years from March 2011-March 2014. The analysis was based on sequences from the second hypervariable region of the G gene. A predominance of HRSV group A was observed in the first three years of the study, while group B became slightly predominant during the first few months of 2014. Overall, 76% of viruses belonged to group A including the genotypes NA1, ON1 and GA5. NA1 was by far the most common genotype within group A in 2011-2013; however, only ON1 and a few GA5 viruses were detected in the first three months of 2014. The majority of group B strains were of genotype BA9 (97%), and a few BA10 genotypes were detected. BA9 had the highest substitution rate of all the detected genotypes, followed by ON1.