Detection of human bocavirus from fecal samples of Hungarian children with acute gastroenteritis.

OBJECTIVES: Human bocavirus (HBoV), a newly identified member of the Parvoviridae family is associated with respiratory tract and gastroenteric infections, mostly of young children. HBoV infections show a seasonal distribution with the peak in temperate areas being in the winter months.

METHODS: In our study, 35 throat swabs from children under 5 years with acute respiratory symptoms and 61 stool samples from children (<5 years) with acute gastroenteritis were collected in the period of October 2007-March 2008. A HBoV-specific polymerase chain reaction for detection of the virus, and sequence analysis for identification of virus variants were performed.

RESULTS: Although respiratory samples were all negative, 3.3% of stool samples (2/61) proved to be positive for HBoV. The virus carrier children were 3 and 5 years old. The ratio of HBoV positive samples is similar to international results (2.1-5.5%).

CONCLUSIONS: According to the result of sequence analysis of HBoV, the occurrence of genotype 2 of HBoV in Hungary is confirmed.