New Parvovirus Identified in Pediatric Lower Respiratory Tract Infection

Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in infants and young children often results in hospitalization. The causative agent, although typically one of several well-known viruses, remains unidentified in many patients whose clinical presentations appear compatible with a viral etiology. Using a novel molecular virus screening technique, investigators have detected a previously unknown parvovirus in patients with LRTI.

Nasopharyngeal aspirates collected from LRTI patients were pooled, ultracentrifuged to concentrate the viruses, depleted of contaminating host nucleic acids, and amplified by random PCR. The PCR products were cloned, and the clones underwent large-scale genetic sequencing; automated database searches were conducted on the seque…