Epidemiology and clinical severity of the serotypes of human parainfluenza virus in children with acute respiratory infection

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are a threat to human health and survival, resulting in many paediatric hospitalisations. However, the epidemiological and clinical severity characteristics of the human parainfluenza virus (PIV), one of the most prevalent respiratory viruses, are not well understood in children. METHODS: To identify the epidemiological features of PIV infection, in 2019, hospitalised children with ARI were screened using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for PIV and 10 other common respiratory pathogens. Subtyping of randomly selected PIV-positive samples was performed using reverse transcription-PCR. Demographics, epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and outcomes were compared between PIV subtypes. RESULTS: The annual detection rate for PIV was 14.9%, with a peak from April to September. Children under one year of age had the highest rate of PIV infection (45.5%) compared to other age groups. Of the 121 sequenced samples, 58.7%, 36.4% and 4.9% were positive for PIV-3, PIV-1 and PIV-2, respectively, and no PIV-4 was detected. Severe infections were associated with pre-existing underlying diseases and co-infections, but not with PIV serotype. After excluding cases of co-infection, we found that PIV-2 infection was associated with upper respiratory tract infections, whereas PIV-1 and PIV-3 mainly caused lower respiratory tract infections. Apart from the proportion of patients with fever, there were no significant differences among the three subtypes in terms of clinical symptoms, severity, and outcome. CONCLUSION: Here, PIV was the main pathogen causing ARI in hospitalised children. Appropriate attention should be paid to children with underlying diseases and co-infections to prevent the worsening of severe PIV infection. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12985-023-02214-9.