Seroprevalence of Anti-Human Metapneumovirus Antibodies in Hospitalized Children in Suleimani City/Iraq

Background: Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV) is an important respiratory viral pathogen among children, and it is one of the causes of pediatric hospital admissions due to acute respiratory tract infections.

Objective: This study was done to predict the seroprevalence of anti-hMPV antibodies among hospitalized children presenting with acute respiratory tract infections in Suleimani Governorate, Kurdistan Region/Iraq.

Place and Duration: This study was done at the department of microbiology, school of medicine, suleimani University, between April 2011 and March 2012.

Methods: Indirect immunofluorescent assay (IIFA) was performed to detect serum anti-hMPV antibodies (IgM and IgG antibodies) from three hundred hospitalized children less than 5 years old with acute respiratory tract infections.

Results: IgM anti-hMPV antibodies were positive in thirty six (12%) out of three hundred children. The highest seroprevalence was found in the age group <1 year old, while the lowest in the age group 4 to <5 years old. No significant gender difference was found among seropositive children. The IgM anti – hMPV seropositive children were suffering from pneumonia, bronchiolitis, or other less severe acute respiratory tract infections like acute bronchitis and croup in frequencies of sixteen (44%), 10 (28%), and 10 (28%). The IgG anti-hMPV antibodies were positive in two hundred and twenty five (75%) out of the three hundred children, and there was a gradual increase in percentage of seropositivity with increasing age.

Conclusion: hMPV is an important viral respiratory pathogen among hospitalized children in Suleimani Governorate/Kurdistan/Iraq, and most of the children had experienced hMPV infection by the age of five years.