Detection of parechovirus‐A in hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory infection in Myanmar, 2017–2018.

Parechovirus‐A (PeV‐A) causes emerging infection in children, and clinical presentation depends on genotype. The virus has been investigated mainly in developed countries; however, data from developing countries, especially in Asia, are sparse. This study investigated whether PeV‐A circulated in children in Myanmar. This retrospective study evaluated PeV‐A in nasopharyngeal samples from children aged 1 month to 12 years who were hospitalized with acute lower respiratory infection at Yankin Children Hospital, Yangon, Myanmar, during the period from May 2017 to April 2019. Real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect PeV‐A, and PCR‐positive samples were used for genotyping and phylogenetic analysis. In total, 11/570 (1.9%) of samples were positive for PeV‐A; 7 were successfully genotyped by sequencing the VP3/VP1 region, as follows: PeV‐A1 (n = 4), PeV‐A5 (n = 1), PeV‐A6 (n = 1), and PeV‐A14 (n = 1). Median age was 10.0 months (interquartile range 4.0–12.0 months), and other respiratory viruses were detected in all cases. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all detected PeV‐A1 strains were in clade 1 A, which was a minor clade worldwide. Four PeV‐A genotypes were detected in Myanmar. The clinical impact of PeV‐A in children should be evaluated in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]