Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 65 (4), 337-340, 2012
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Minoru Nidaira1*, Katsuya Taira1, Hirotsune Hamabata2, Tatsuyoshi Kawaki3, Kazuo Gushi4, Youko Mahoe1, Noriyuki Maeshiro1, Yasuhito Azama1, Shou Okano1, Hisako Kyan1, Jun Kudaka1, Hiroyuki Tsukagoshi5, Masahiro Noda6, and Hirokazu Kimura6
1Department of Biological Science, Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, Okinawa 901-1202; 2Awase Daiichi Clinic, Okinawa 904-2172; 3Aozora Pediatric Clinic, Okinawa 901-1302; 4Gushi Kodomo Clinic, Okinawa 901-0244; 5Gunma Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, Gunma 371-0052; and 6Infectious Disease Surveillance Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
(Received February 10, 2012, 2012. Accepted May 21, 2012)
*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Department of Biological Science, Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment, 2085 Ozato, Nanjo-shi, Okinawa 901-1202, Japan. Tel: +81-98-945-0785, Fax: +81-98-945-9366, E-mail: このメールアドレスはスパムボットから保護されています。閲覧するにはJavaScriptを有効にする必要があります。
SUMMARY: To clarify the molecular epidemiology of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in Okinawa Prefecture, located in a subtropical region of Japan, we performed genetic analysis of the F gene in HMPV from patients with acute respiratory infection from January 2009 to December 2011. HMPV was detected in 18 of 485 throat swabs (3.7%). Phylogenetic analysis showed that 17 strains belonged to subgroup A2 and 1 strain belonged to subgroup B1. We did not observe seasonal prevalence of HMPV during the investigation period. A high level of sequence identity was observed in the strains belonging to subgroup A2 (>95%), and no amino acid substitution was found compared with other strains detected in Japan and other countries. The pairwise distance values among the present strains belonging to subgroup A2 were short. Our results suggest that the predominant HMPV strains belonging to A2 are highly homologous and seasonal epidemics were not seen in Okinawa during the investigation period.