Skip to content
1887

Access Microbiology open research platform logo Access Microbiology

Volume 7, Issue 10

Detection and genetic characterization of human bocavirus 1 infection: evolutionary insights in Western Province Sri Lanka Open Access

Abstract

Human bocavirus-1 (HBoV1) is a respiratory virus linked to various respiratory illnesses, but its prevalence and role in acute respiratory infections in Sri Lanka are not well investigated. This study investigated the prevalence of HBoV1 in respiratory samples from individuals suspected of having respiratory tract infections in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. Two hundred systematically selected nasopharyngeal swab samples from suspected COVID-19 patients from January 2022 to May 2022 with acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) symptoms from a total of 1,507 samples were included. PCR was performed to amplify the non-structural protein 1 gene region of HBoV. The positive sample was subjected to complete genomic sequencing by using the Illumina sequencing platform. HBoV was detected in one sample from a 9-month-old infant who presented with cough, fever and sore throat. This sample was negative for other respiratory viruses and atypical bacteria. The sequence was aligned with reference sequences available in GenBank, which confirmed that the sample belongs to the HBoV1 genotype, with a nucleotide identity of 99.14%. This study was able to detect HBoV1 infections in a patient with ARTI as a sole pathogen and genomic characterization of the isolate. This detection in a symptomatic infant highlights the importance of comprehensive respiratory pathogen testing.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): genomic surveillance , human bocavirus (HBoV) , respiratory virus , SARS-CoV-2 and Sri Lanka
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Health Sector Enhancement Project
    • Principal Award Recipient: SarangaSumathipala
© 2025 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.000989.v3
2025-10-14
2025-11-10

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/acmi/7/10/acmi000989.v3.html?itemId=/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.000989.v3&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Bagasi AA, Howson-Wells HC, Clark G, Tarr AW, Soo S et al. Human bocavirus infection and respiratory tract disease identified in a UK patient cohort. J Clin Virol 2020; 129:104453 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Allander T, Tammi MT, Eriksson M, Bjerkner A, Tiveljung-Lindell A et al. Cloning of a human parvovirus by molecular screening of respiratory tract samples. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005; 102:12891–12896 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Jartti T, Hedman K, Jartti L, Ruuskanen O, Allander T et al. Human bocavirus-the first 5 years. Rev Med Virol 2011; 22:46–64 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Zhao M, Zhu R, Qian Y, Deng J, Wang F et al. Prevalence and phylogenetic analysis of human bocaviruses 1-4 in pediatric patients with various infectious diseases. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0160603 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Longtin J, Bastien M, Gilca R, Leblanc E, de Serres G et al. Human bocavirus infections in hospitalized children and adults. Emerg Infect Dis 2008; 14:217–221 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Guido M, Quattrocchi M, Campa A, Zizza A, Grima P et al. Human metapneumovirus and human bocavirus associated with respiratory infection in Apulian population. Virology 2011; 417:64–70 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Abdel-Moneim AS, Kamel MM, Hamed DH, Hassan SS, Soliman MS et al. A novel primer set for improved direct gene sequencing of human bocavirus genotype-1 from clinical samples. J Virol Methods 2016; 228:108–113 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Saha S, Fozzard N, Lambert SB, Ware RS, Grimwood K. Human bocavirus-1 infections in Australian children aged < 2 years: a birth cohort study. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2023; 42:99–108 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Ji K, Sun J, Yan Y, Han L, Guo J et al. Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of human bocavirus infection in infants and young children suffering with community acquired pneumonia in Ningxia, China. Virol J 2021; 18:212 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Calvo C, García-García ML, Pozo F, Carvajal O, Pérez-Breña P et al. Clinical characteristics of human bocavirus infections compared with other respiratory viruses in Spanish children. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2008; 27:677–680 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Ziemele I, Xu M, Vilmane A, Rasa-Dzelzkaleja S, Hedman L et al. Acute human bocavirus 1 infection in child with life-threatening bilateral bronchiolitis and right-sided pneumonia: a case report. J Med Case Rep 2019; 13:290 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  12. City Population Western (Province, Sri Lanka) - population statistics, charts, map and location; 2022 https://www.citypopulation.de/en/srilanka/prov/admin/1__western/ accessed 2 December 2024
  13. Arunasalam S, Pattiyakumbura T, Shihab SR, Muthugala R, Noordeen F. Demographic and clinical characteristics of human bocavirus-1 infection in patients with acute respiratory tract infections during the COVID-19 pandemic in the central province of Sri Lanka. BMC Infect Dis 2023; 23:425 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Mori D, Ranawaka U, Yamada K, Rajindrajith S, Miya K et al. Human bocavirus in patients with encephalitis, Sri Lanka, 2009–2010. Emerg Infect Dis 2013; 19:1859–1862 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Bastien N, Chui N, Robinson JL, Lee BE, Dust K et al. Detection of human bocavirus in Canadian children in a 1-year study. J Clin Microbiol 2007; 45:610–613 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Oldhoff E, Bennet R, Eriksson M, Allander T. Human bocavirus 1 epidemiology in children in relation to virus load and codetection. Acta Paediatr 2023; 112:1049–1055 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Zhang X, Zheng J, Zhu L, Xu H. Human bocavirus-1 screening in infants with acute lower respiratory tract infection. J Int Med Res 2021; 49:030006052110277 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Martin ET, Kuypers J, McRoberts JP, Englund JA, Zerr DM. Human bocavirus 1 primary infection and shedding in infants. J Infect Dis 2015; 212:516–524 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Martin ET, Fairchok MP, Kuypers J, Magaret A, Zerr DM et al. Frequent and prolonged shedding of bocavirus in young children attending daycare. J Infect Dis 2010; 201:1625–1632 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.000989.v3
Loading
Detection and genetic characterization of human bocavirus 1 infection: evolutionary insights in Western Province Sri Lanka
Access Microbiology 7, 000989.v3 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000989.v3
/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.000989.v3
/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.000989.v3
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Most cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error