Human metapneumovirus infection among family members

Epidemiol Infect. 2013 Apr;141(4):827-32. doi: 10.1017/S095026881200129X. Epub 2012 Jul 3.

Abstract

The transmission of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) among family members is not well understood. We identified 15 families in which multiple members were diagnosed with hMPV infection by real-time PCR in 2008 and 2010. Index patients ranged in age from 2 years to 11 years (median 5 years), and all 15 index cases were children who attended primary school, kindergarten, or nursery school. Contact patients ranged in age from 2 months to 46 years (median 6 years). Excluding five adult cases, contact patients were significantly younger than index patients (P = 0·0389). Of the 12 contact children, seven (58%) were infants who were taken care of at home. The serial interval between the onset of symptoms in an index patient and the onset of symptoms in a contact patient was estimated to be 5 days. These results suggest that the control of school-based outbreaks is important for preventing hMPV infection in infants.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control
  • Family*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Metapneumovirus / isolation & purification*
  • Middle Aged
  • Paramyxoviridae Infections / epidemiology
  • Paramyxoviridae Infections / transmission*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction