Survey of WU and KI polyomaviruses, coronaviruses, respiratory syncytial virus and parechovirus in children under 5 years of age in Tehran, Iran

Background and Objectives: Severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) remain an important cause for childhood morbidity worldwide. We designed a research with the objective of finding the frequency of respiratory viruses, particularly WU and KI polyomaviruses (WUPyV & KIPyV), human coronaviruses (HCoVs), human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) and human parechovirus (HPeV) in hospitalized children who were influenza negative. Materials and Methods: Throat swabs were collected from children younger than 5 years who have been hospitalized for SARI and screened for WUPyV, KIPyV, HCoVs, HRSV and HPeV using Real time PCR. Results: A viral pathogen was identified in 23 (11.16%) of 206 hospitalized children with SARI. The rate of virus detection was considerably greater in infants