Coronavirus infection and hospitalizations for acute respiratory illness in young children

There is only limited knowledge on the burden of disease due to both new (HCoV‐NL63 and HKU‐1) and previously discovered coronaviruses (OC43 and 229E) in children. Respiratory specimens and clinical data were prospectively collected in an active, population‐based surveillance study over a 2‐year period from children aged <5 years hospitalized with acute respiratory symptoms or fever. These samples were retrospectively tested by real‐time RT‐PCR for HCoV‐NL63, HKU1, OC43, and 229E. Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) were identified in 2.2% of study children <2 years of age. Rates of HCoV‐associated hospitalization per 10,000 were 10.2 (95% CI 4.3, 17.6), 4.2 (95% CI 1.9, 6.9), and 0 (95% CI 0, 3.7) in children aged <6 months, 6–23 months, and 24–59 months, respectively. Coronaviruses were identified in a modest number of hospitalized children. J. Med. Virol. 81:853–856, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.