Cho, S.-J.; Kim, S.-H.; Lee, H.; Lee, Y.-U.; Mun, J.; Park, S.; Park, J.; Park, J.-S.; Lee, K.; Lee, C.-M.; Seo, J.; Kim, Y.; Chung, Y.-S. Re-Emergence of HMPV in Gwangju, South Korea, after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Pathogens2023, 12, 1218.
Cho, S.-J.; Kim, S.-H.; Lee, H.; Lee, Y.-U.; Mun, J.; Park, S.; Park, J.; Park, J.-S.; Lee, K.; Lee, C.-M.; Seo, J.; Kim, Y.; Chung, Y.-S. Re-Emergence of HMPV in Gwangju, South Korea, after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Pathogens 2023, 12, 1218.
Cho, S.-J.; Kim, S.-H.; Lee, H.; Lee, Y.-U.; Mun, J.; Park, S.; Park, J.; Park, J.-S.; Lee, K.; Lee, C.-M.; Seo, J.; Kim, Y.; Chung, Y.-S. Re-Emergence of HMPV in Gwangju, South Korea, after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Pathogens2023, 12, 1218.
Cho, S.-J.; Kim, S.-H.; Lee, H.; Lee, Y.-U.; Mun, J.; Park, S.; Park, J.; Park, J.-S.; Lee, K.; Lee, C.-M.; Seo, J.; Kim, Y.; Chung, Y.-S. Re-Emergence of HMPV in Gwangju, South Korea, after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Pathogens 2023, 12, 1218.
Abstract
The non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have affected the epidemiology of other respiratory viruses. In South Korea, Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) typically occurs from winter to the following spring; however, it was not detected for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic and re-emerged in the fall of 2022, which is a non-epidemic season. To examine the molecular genetic characteristics of HMPV before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, we analyzed 427 HMPV-positive samples collected in the Gwangju area from 2018 to 2022. Among these, 24 samples were subjected to whole-genome sequencing. The results showed a shift in the predominant genotype from A2b2 before the COVID-19 pandemic to A2b1 in 2022. Furthermore, a significant increase in HMPV cases was observed in the 6–10-year age group. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing have reduced the possibility of HMPV exposure and herd immunity due to non-transmission, resulting in the introduction of new HMPV genotypes in different seasons.
Keywords
Human metapneumovirus; non-pharmaceutical interventions; whole-genome sequencing
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Virology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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