Circulation of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) causing respiratory illness in New South Wales, Australia, between August 2018 and November 2019

Sacha Stelzer-Braid; Malinna Yeang; Philip N Britton; Ki Wook Kim; Hemalatha Varadhan; Peter Ian Andrews; Romain Briest; James Branley; Rifky Balgahom; Rebecca Burrell; Nicole Gehrig; James Newcombe; Alison Kesson; Jen Kok; Michael Maley; Sebastiaan Van Hal; C Raina MacIntyre; Maria E Craig; Mark J Ferson; William D Rawlinson

doi:10.1016/j.pathol.2022.03.007

Circulation of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) causing respiratory illness in New South Wales, Australia, between August 2018 and November 2019

Pathology. 2022 Oct;54(6):784-789. doi: 10.1016/j.pathol.2022.03.007. Epub 2022 Jun 15.

Authors

Sacha Stelzer-Braid¹, Malinna Yeang², Philip N Britton³, Ki Wook Kim⁴, Hemalatha Varadhan⁵, Peter Ian Andrews⁶, Romain Briest⁷, James Branley⁸, Rifky Balgahom⁹, Rebecca Burrell¹⁰, Nicole Gehrig⁵, James Newcombe¹¹, Alison Kesson¹², Jen Kok¹³, Michael Maley¹⁴, Sebastiaan Van Hal¹⁵, C Raina MacIntyre¹⁶, Maria E Craig⁴, Mark J Ferson¹⁷, William D Rawlinson¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Virology Research Laboratory, Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), NSW Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: sacha.stelzerbraid@health.nsw.gov.au.
² Virology Research Laboratory, Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), NSW Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.
³ Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia; Marie Bashir Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Virology Research Laboratory, Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), NSW Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia; School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Medicine, Kensington, NSW, Australia.
⁵ NSW Health Pathology, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
⁶ School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Medicine, Kensington, NSW, Australia; Department of Neurology, Sydney Children's Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Sydney Children's Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Nepean Hospital, Kingswood, NSW, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁹ Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Nepean Hospital, Kingswood, NSW, Australia.
¹⁰ Marie Bashir Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
¹¹ NSW Health Pathology, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW, Australia.
¹² Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
¹³ NSW Health Pathology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
¹⁴ NSW Health Pathology South, Liverpool, NSW, Australia; South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Liverpool, NSW, Australia.
¹⁵ Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
¹⁶ Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia; College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
¹⁷ Public Health Unit, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Randwick, NSW, Australia; School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia.
¹⁸ Virology Research Laboratory, Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), NSW Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia; School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Medicine, Kensington, NSW, Australia; Serology and Virology Division (SAViD), NSW Health Pathology East, Department of Microbiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.

PMID: 35717412
DOI: 10.1016/j.pathol.2022.03.007

Abstract

The incidence of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) in New South Wales, Australia, is unknown. As part of a state-wide surveillance program, enterovirus positive diagnostic specimens were assessed from patients presenting to hospitals with respiratory and meningitis syndromes from August 2018 to November 2019. Diagnostic enterovirus positive samples were collected from 339 patients and re-extracted followed by targeted PCR across the whole EV-D68 genome (7.4 kb). Obtained amplicons (n=208) were sequenced using Illumina sequencing technology and the phylogenetic relationships analysed relative to EV-D68 Fermon strain. We identified EV-D68 in 31 patients, both children (n=27) and adults (n=4). Phylogenetically, the majority (n=30) were from subclade B3, the same as that causing outbreaks of EV-D68 across the USA and Europe during 2018. These data strengthen the importance of having an active enterovirus surveillance network.

Keywords: Human enterovirus; enterovirus infections; high-throughput nucleotide sequencing; viral meningitis.

MeSH terms

Adult
Child
Disease Outbreaks
Enterovirus D, Human* / genetics
Enterovirus Infections* / diagnosis
Enterovirus Infections* / epidemiology
Humans
Infant
New South Wales / epidemiology
Phylogeny
Respiratory Tract Infections* / epidemiology