Respiratory infections associated with enterovirus D68 from 2011 to 2015 in Beijing, China

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is an emergent viral pathogen associated with mild to severe respiratory infections. In this study, we describe respiratory infections associated with EV-D68 in Beijing over a 4 year period. Total nucleic acid was extracted from 7,945 clinical specimens collected between January 5, 2011 and July 30, 2015 in Beijing and used for detecting EV-D68 and other enteroviruses by real-time PCR. Overall, 555/7,945 (6.99%) specimens were enterovirus positive: 12/7,945 (0.2%) specimens were EV-D68 positive. Of these patients, 11 were pediatric patients and 1 was a 76-year-old man. The main symptoms for the 12 EV-D68 positive patients were fever (10/12, 83.3%) and cough (6/12, 50%). Ten EV-D68 infection cases were identified in autumn or winter season. The phylogenetic relationships of the 12 EV-D68 viral strains with other strains were analyzed based on the sequences of viral protein 1(VP1). The EV-D68 strains from 2011 to 2013 belonged to groups 1 or 3, while all strains in 2014 were clustered into group 1 together with the strains circulating in the USA. In conclusion, EV-D68 played a role in respiratory infections in Beijing during this period. In addition, the most common EV-D68 strain detected was similar to that circulating in the USA in 2014. J. Med. Virol. 88:1529-1534, 2016.