Prevalence, molecular characterization, and clinical features of human bocavirus in children under 5 years of age with acute gastroenteritis admitted to a specialized children's hospital in Iran: A cross‐sectional study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although some reports have confirmed the role of human bocavirus (HBoV) in respiratory infections, the importance of this virus in causing acute gastroenteritis has not yet been proven. This study aimed to determine the molecular prevalence of HBoV in children under 5 years old with gastroenteritis and to compare the clinical symptoms of HBoV‐positive and ‐negative gastroenteritis cases. METHODS: A total of 100 stool samples were collected from children with gastroenteritis hospitalized in a pediatric hospital in Tehran, Iran. Demographic and clinical data were collected from patients' medical records. Viral genomic DNA was extracted from stool samples and amplified using the PCR assay. Finally, sequencing was used to determine the genotype of HBoV. RESULTS: The HBoV genome was detected in 14 samples (14%). The highest prevalence of HBoV was observed in the age range of 24–60 months (n = 5; 35.7%); However, no statistically significant relationship was observed between the prevalence of HBoV and age groups (p = 0.09). Nine (64.3%) and 5 (35.7%) HBoV‐positive cases were boys and girls, respectively (p = 0.45). Fever, vomiting, and heartache were seen in 5 (35.7%), 3 (21.4%), and 1 (7.1%) HBoV‐positive patients, respectively. Overall, no significant difference was observed in any of the investigated clinical manifestations between patients positive or negative for HBoV. Five HBoV‐positive samples were subjected to sequencing and all five sequenced samples were genotype 3. CONCLUSION: HBoV infections can be considered a risk factor for causing at least a portion of acute gastroenteritis cases in children under 5 years of age.