Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026
An In vitro Model to Study Immune Responses of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells to Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection
Published on: December 10, 2013
[Serodiagnosis of human bocavirus lower respiratory tract infection in children]
Ling Li1, Meijuan Wang1, Yongdong Yan1
1Department of Respiratory Diseases, the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Suchow University, Suzhou 215003, China.
Insights
Combining serologic tests with sputum DNA detection significantly improves the diagnosis of human bocavirus (HBoV) lower respiratory tract infections in children. This combined approach enhances diagnostic accuracy and reveals key age distributions for HBoV infections.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Immunology
Context:
- Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a significant cause of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in children.
- Accurate and timely diagnosis of HBoV LRTI is crucial for effective patient management.
- Current diagnostic methods may have limitations in sensitivity and specificity.
Purpose:
- To evaluate the diagnostic performance of HBoV serology, sputum DNA detection, and their combination.
- To compare these methods against a standard based on HBoV DNA in serum and/or bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs).
- To determine the age distribution of HBoV infections in pediatric patients.
Summary:
- A study involving 714 children with acute LRTI compared HBoV serologic tests (IgG, IgM) and quantitative real-time PCR for HBoV DNA in sputum, serum, and BALFs.
- The combination of serologic testing and sputum DNA detection demonstrated improved diagnostic parameters, including a sensitivity of 70.4% and specificity of 94.8%.
- HBoV infections were predominantly observed in children under 3 years of age, with the highest rates in the 1-year-old group.
Impact:
- The combined diagnostic strategy offers enhanced accuracy for identifying HBoV LRTI in children.
- This approach provides valuable insights into the epidemiological characteristics, specifically the age-related prevalence of HBoV infections.
- Improved diagnostic tools can lead to better clinical decision-making and potentially reduce the burden of HBoV-related respiratory illnesses in pediatric populations.
Objective:
To study the application of serodiagnosis of human bocavirus (HBoV) lower respiratory tract infection in children.
Method:
From January to April, 2013, samples including serum, sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs) were obtained from 714 children hospitalized with ALRI. Serums were tested for HBoV-specific IgG and IgM antibodies by ELISA and all kinds of samples were tested for HBoV DNA by quantitative real-time fluorescent PCR. The results of HBoV serologic tests, viral DNA in sputum and their combination were compared with those of HBoV DNA in serums and/or BALFs, which was considered as the "standard". Their consistence and differences were evaluated, and the diagnostic parameters including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, consistency rate, Kappa value and J value were calculated. Age distributions of the HBoV positive patients tested by the latter two methods were also compared.
Result:
The positive rate of HBoV serology was 13.2% (94/714) . The results of HBoV serology, its DNA in sputum and their combination were all consistent with those of HBoV DNA in serums and/or BALFs (χ(2) = 91.834, 124.662, 138.643, P < 0.001 for all comparisons) . Differences were significant by McNemar test (χ(2) = 23.547, 33.440, 12.410, P all <0.001) . All the diagnostic parameters for single HBoV serologic test or single viral DNA test in sputa were approximate. However, they were improved to 70.4%, 94.8%, 38.0%, 98.6%, 93.7%, 0.463(P < 0.001), 0.65 for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, consistency rate, Kappa value and J value, respectively, when the methods were combined. HBoV was found positive mainly in children under 3 years of age, especially in the 1 year group. The positive rates were the highest in both group -1 year, and group -3 years was the next. However, the rate was the lowest in group >3 years and in the group -6 months.
Conclusion:
Diagnostic power can be improved and age distribution can be demonstrated when serologic tests were combined with traditional sputum DNA detection in children with HBoV lower respiratory tract infection.
