Dual infection of infants by human metapneumovirus and human respiratory syncytial virus is strongly associated with severe bronchiolitis.

The association between severe bronchiolitis and dual infection by human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) was investigated in <2-year-old infants with bronchiolitis who were admitted to the hospital during the 2001-2002 winter season. hMPV in nasopharyngeal aspirate and/or cells and fluid collected by nonbronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage was detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). hRSV was detected in nasopharyngeal aspirate and/or cells and fluid collected by nonbronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage by enzyme immunoassay, tissue culture, and RT-PCR.

Human metapneumovirus and respiratory syncytial virus, Brazil.

We describe the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of 111 children attending clinics and hospitals in Aracaju, northeast Brazil, with acute respiratory infections attributable to human metapneumovirus (HMPV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), or both in May and June 2002. Fifty-three (48%) children were infected with RSV alone, 19 (17%) with HMPV alone, and 8 (7%) had RSV/HMPV co-infections.

Molecular analysis of the 18S rRNA gene of Cryptosporidium parasites from patients with or without human immunodeficiency virus infections living in Kenya, Malawi, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

An 840-bp fragment of the 18S rRNA gene was used to identify Cryptosporidium spp. recovered from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and -uninfected patients from Kenya, Malawi, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. Initial identification was by Ziehl-Neelsen acid-fast staining.

Human metapneumovirus in severe respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis.

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to detect segments of the M (matrix), N (nucleoprotein), and F (fusion) genes of human metapneumovirus in bronchoalveolar fluid from 30 infants with severe respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis. Seventy percent of them were coinfected with metapneumovirus. Such coinfection might be a factor influencing the severity of bronchiolitis.

Detection and characterisation of human astroviruses in children with acute gastroenteritis in Blantyre, Malawi.

In a 2-year hospital-based study of paediatric gastroenteritis in Blantyre, Malawi, astroviruses were detected by enzyme immunoassay in 15 (1.9%) of 786 inpatients and in 9 (2.3%) of 400 outpatients.

Cryptosporidium muris infection in an HIV-infected adult, Kenya.

We describe a case of Cryptosporidium muris infection in an HIV-infected adult with diarrhea in Kenya. Sequence analysis of an 840-bp region of the 18S rRNA gene locus demonstrated the isolate had 100% nucleotide identity with C. muris recovered from a rock hyrax, 98.