ABSTRACT
A child with pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) developed fatal encephalitis associated with human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43). During chemotherapy the child had a persistent HCoV-OC43 respiratory infection and later developed progressive encephalitis. Cerebrospinal fluid was negative for pathogens including HCoV-OC43, but a brain biopsy was HCoV-OC43-positive by metagenomic next-generation sequencing.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections/virology , Coronavirus OC43, Human/physiology , Encephalitis/virology , Brain/pathology , Brain/virology , Coronavirus Infections/immunology , Coronavirus Infections/mortality , Coronavirus Infections/pathology , Coronavirus OC43, Human/isolation & purification , Encephalitis/immunology , Encephalitis/mortality , Encephalitis/pathology , Fatal Outcome , Humans , Immunocompromised Host , InfantABSTRACT
The disease spectrum associated with human bocavirus-1 infection remains to be fully defined. We report a case of bocavirus-1-associated bronchiolitis, leading to severe respiratory failure and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a 4-year-old child, and suggest blood testing for human bocavirus-1 in children with severe respiratory tract infection.