Identification of Human Bocavirus type 4 in a child asymptomatic for respiratory tract infection and acute gastroenteritis – Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

Human Bocavirus (HBoV) has been identified from feces and respiratory samples from cases of both acute gastroenteritis and respiratory illness as well as in asymptomatic individuals. The aim of this study was to detect and characterize HBoV from fecal samples collected from hospitalized children aged less than five years old with no symptoms of respiratory tract infection (RTI) or acute gastroenteritis (AGE). The study involved 119 children and one fecal sample was collected from each participant between 2014 and 2015. HBoV was detected using Nested-PCR, and the viral type identified by genomic sequencing. HBoV-4 was identified from one sample obtained from a hospitalized child with soft tissue tumor of the submandibular region. This is the first report of HBoV-4 identification in Brazil, but we consider that this type may be circulating in the country similar to the other types and new investigations are necessary.