Infection status and genetic characteristics of human rhinovirus in influenza-like illness cases in Yinchuan, Ningxia, 2021

  Objective  To investigate the infection status and genetic characteristics of human rhinovirus (HRV) in influenza-like illness cases in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, in 2021, and provide evidence for the prevention and control of respiratory tract diseases.

  Methods  Nasopharyngeal swabs of the cases with respiratory tract infection symptoms were selected from two national influenza surveillance sentinel hospitals in Yinchuan from January to December 2021. HRV-positive samples by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were amplified and sequenced for VP4/VP2 region genes of HRV. Sequence alignment was performed by using software Mafft, software MEGA 11.0 was used to construct phylogenetic tree, and software DNAStar was used for nucleotide acid and amino acid homology analyses.

  Results  Among the 1100 samples, the overall detection rate of HRV was 8.00% (88/1100), the positive rate of HRV was 7.64% (84/1100), and the co-positive rate of HRV and other viruses was 0.36% (4/1100). The amplified VP4/VP2 gene sequence analysis on HRV from 57 cases showed that 40 cases were infected with HRV-A, 4 cases were infected with HRV-B and 13 cases were infected with HRV-C. A total of 28 serotypes were detected, and A16 was the most common serotype. The nucleotide homology and amino acid homology were 73.10%–100.00% and 78.40%–100.00% in the sequences of HRV-A, 78.50%–98.30% and 89.20%–100.00% in the sequences of HRV-B, and 68.90%–100.00% and 76.10%–100.00% in the sequences of HRV-C, respectively

  Conclusion  The infection rate of HRV was high in Yinchuan in 2021, indicating that it was one of the main viral pathogens causing acute upper respiratory tract infection. HRV-A was predominant, followed by HRV-C, and multiple serotypes were involved.