Page 105 - 2020 JSOM Winter
        P. 105
     data may stimulate further investigation into the natural his-  3.  Principi N, Piralla A, Zampiero A, et al. Bocavirus infection in
              tory and the transmission patterns of this emerging pathogen.   otherwise healthy children with respiratory disease. PLoS One.
              While HBoV may not be a highly virulent or a highly trans-  2015;10(8):e0135640. Published online 2015 August 12.
              missible pathogen at present, previous studies have indicated   4.  Jartti T, Hedman K, Jartti L, Ruuskanen O, Allander T, Söder-
              that it has the potential to become a serious cause for con-  lund-Venermo M. Human bocavirus: the first 5 years. Rev Med
                                                                    Virol. 2012;22(1):46–64.
              cern. One of these studies has reported that different strains of   5.  Kesebir D, Vazquez M, Weibel C, et al. Human bocavirus infec-
              HBoV can swap and recombine genetic material.  This “gene   tion in young children in the United States: molecular epidemi-
                                                    22
              swapping” may lead to increasing awareness that new or more   ological profile and clinical characteristics of a newly emerging
              virulent strains can emerge.  There is also evidence that this   respiratory virus. J Infect Dis. 2006;194(9):1276–1282.
                                   23
              virus can interact with other viral pathogens in the host, pos-  6.  Christensen A, Kesti O, Elenius V, et al. Human bocaviruses and
              sibly leading to increased pathogenicity. 22          paediatric infections.  Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2019;3(6):
                                                                    418–426.
                                                                 7.  Schildgen O, Müller A, Allander T, et al. Human bocavirus:
              Georgia was the largest non-NATO contributor to the Reso-  passenger or pathogen in acute respiratory tract infections? Clin
              lute Support mission in Afghanistan. In addition, Georgia has   Micro biol Rev. 2008;21(2):291–304.
              participated in numerous NATO and European Union peace-  8.  Wang K, Wang W, Yan H, et al. Correlation between bocavirus
              keeping operations, and it deployed several combat infantry   infection and humoral response, and co-infection with other
              brigades to assist US forces in Iraq. It is anticipated that US   respiratory viruses in children with acute respiratory infection.
                                                                    J Clin Virol. 2010;47(2):148–155.
              military personnel will continue to work side by side with   9.  Chow BD, Esper FP. The human bocaviruses: a review and discus-
              their Georgian counterparts in Georgia and throughout the   sion of their role in infection. Clin Lab Med. 2009;29(4):695–713.
              world. Understanding the impact of HBoV and other emerg-  10.  Lee HN, Koo HJ, Kim SH, Choi SH, Sung H, Do KH. Human
              ing pathogens on the Georgian military will allow the medical   bocavirus infection in adults: clinical features  and radiological
              personnel of the US Special Operations community to better   findings. Kor J Radiol. 2019;20(7):1226–1235.
              assist in the diagnosis and treatment of both Georgian and US   11.  Ishiguro T, Hirota S, Kobayashi Y, et al. Fatal primary human
              military personnel. It is therefore recommended that military   bocavirus pneumonia in an immunocompetent adult. Intern Med.
                                                                    2020;59(3):421–424.
              medical personnel operating in Georgia and throughout the   12.  Hang VTT, Ny NTH, Phuc TM, et al. Evaluation of the Luminex
              Caucasus region become familiar with HBoV and that HBoV   xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel FAST v2 assay for detection of
              be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute respiratory   multiple respiratory viral pathogens in nasal and throat swabs in
              infection. This may be especially important in cases where the   Vietnam. Version 2. Wellcome Open Res. 2017;2:80. Published
              symptoms are more severe than expected during the winter   online 2018 Apr 30.
              and early spring months and when there is a possibility for   13.  Xu M, Arku B, Jartti T, et al. Comparative diagnosis of human bo-
                                                                    cavirus 1 respiratory infection with messenger RNA reverse-tran-
              coinfection or confounding with SARS-CoV-2. It is also rec-  scription polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA quantitative
              ommended that surveillance efforts be directed toward deter-  PCR, and serology. J Infect Dis. 2017;215(10):1551–1557.
              mining the actual burden of HBoV in the Georgian population   14.  Calvo C, García-García ML, Pozo F, Carballo D, Martínez-Mon-
              and that research be undertaken to determine the mechanisms   teserín  E,  Casas  I.  Infections  and coinfections  by respiratory
              of HBoV pathogenesis, so that informed decisions can be   human bocavirus during eight seasons in hospitalized children.
                                                                    J Med Virol. 2016;88(12):2052–2058.
              made regarding the development and selection of diagnostic   15.  Tymentsev A, Tikunov A, Zhirakovskaia E, et al. Human boca-
              and treatment protocols capable of mitigating the threat of   virus in hospitalized children with acute gastroenteritis in Russia
              this agent to military personnel in Georgia.          from 2010 to 2012. Infect Genet Evol. 2016;37:143–149.
                                                                 16.  Abdel-Moneim AS, Mahfouz ME, Zytouni DM. Detection of hu-
              Disclaimers                                           man bocavirus in Saudi healthy blood donors. PLoS One. 2018;
              The views expressed in this document are those of the authors   13(2):e0193594. Published online 2018 February 28.
              and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United   17.  Vo MT, Bruhn R, Kaidarova Z, Custer BS, Murphy EL, Bloch
              States Army, the United States Military Academy or the United   EM. A retrospective analysis of false-positive infectious screening
                                                                    results in blood donors. Transfusion. 2016;56(2):457–465.
              States Department of Defense.                      18.  Clemmons NS, McCormic ZD, Gaydos JC, Hawksworth AW,
                                                                    Jordan NN. Acute respiratory disease in US Army trainees 3 years
              Disclosure                                            after reintroduction of adenovirus vaccine 1. Emerg Infect Dis.
              The authors have no affiliations with or involvement in any   2017;23(1):95–98.
              organization or entity with any financial interest in the mate-  19.  Georgia Adult Literacy Rate.  https://knoema.com/atlas/Georgia
              rial discussed in this manuscript.                    /topics/Education/Literacy/Adult-literacy-rate. Retrieved January
                                                                    16, 2020.
                                                                 20.  Salez N, Vabret A, Leruez-Ville M, et al. Evaluation of four com-
              Funding                                               mercial multiplex molecular tests for the diagnosis of acute re-
              This work was financially supported by the Armed Forces   spiratory infections. PLoS One. 2015;10(6):e0130378. Published
              Health Surveillance Branch, Global Emerging Infections Sur-  online 2015 June 24.
              veillance and Response System (AFHSB-GEIS), Silver Spring,   21.  Kissler SM, Tedijanto C, Goldstein E, Grad YH, Lipsitch M. Pro-
              Maryland,  USA  (ProMIS  ID:  20160280193,  Funding  Year:   jecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the
                                                                    postpandemic period. Science. 2020;368(6493):860–868.
              2016).                                             22.  Brockmann M, Windisch W, Hedman K, et al. HBoV-1 in pleura
                                                                    of an adult patient in Cologne, Germany. JMM Case Rep. 2014;1
              References                                            (3):e003657.
              1.  Guido M, Tumolo MR, Verri T, et al. Human bocavirus: current   23.  Zhao M, Zhu R, Qian Y, et al. Prevalence analysis of different
                knowledge and future challenges. World J Gastroenterol. 2016;22   human bocavirus genotypes in pediatric patients revealed intra-
                (39):8684–8697.                                     genotype recombination. Infect Genet Evol. 2014;27:382–388.
              2.  Verbeke V, Reynders M, Floré K, et al. Human bocavirus infec-
                tion in Belgian children with respiratory tract disease. Arch Virol.
                2019;164(12):2919–2930.
                                                             Human Bocavirus as a Possible Contributor to Respiratory Disease  |  103





