Molecular detection of human rhinovirus infection among children with respiratory infection attending University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

Human rhinoviruses (HRV) are the most common cause of the common cold and infections are asymptomatic, as a result, these viruses are mostly ignored. In addition, there is no diagnostic strategy for these viruses. However, reports have shown an association between HRV infections in early life and the consequent induction of asthma. It is therefore pertinent to conduct research to assess the baseline epidemiology knowledge of these viruses in the community. The present study aimed to use molecular methods to investigate the prevalence of Human Rhinoviruses A and B among infants and children under 5 years attending the outpatient peadiatric clinic at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital between October till December 2021. A total of 200 nasopharyngeal (NP) and oropharyngeal (OP) samples from participants with symptoms of respiratory infection were collected. The samples were tested for HRV A and B using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction using primers that were designed HRV- VP4/VP2 coding region. A prevalence of 20% was recorded, 40 samples out of the 200 tested positive for both Human Rhinoviruses A and B. HRVA accounted for 9.5% (19 of 200) while HRVB was 10.5% (21 of 200). The analysis also showed that there was higher positivity of HRV A and HRV B in the 0-1 year age group. Of the 21 positive for HRV B, age 0-1 year accounted for 42.8% (9/21) while 47% (8 /19) were positive for HRV A. The study showed that there is high prevalence of HRV infection among children between 0-5 years of age. It is therefore important to continue to monitor in order to prevent potential underlying respiratory conditions such as asthma among this susceptible age group.