Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of hospitalized human metapneumovirus patients in Israel, 2015–2021: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

AbstractThis study evaluated the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection among hospitalized patients with acute respiratory infections during 2015–2021 and assessed the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on hMPV infection. A single‐center, retrospective cohort study was performed, including pediatric and adult patients with laboratory‐confirmed hMPV. Of a total of 990 patients, 253 (25.6%), 105 (10.6%), 121 (12.2%), and 511 (51.6%) belonged to age groups 0–2, 3–17, 18–59, and ≥60 years, respectively. The highest percentage (23.0%) of patients were hospitalized during 2019 and the lowest (4.7%) during 2020. Patients < 18 years experienced high rates of comorbidities (immunodeficiencies: 14.4% and malignancies: 29.9%). Here, 37/39 (94.9%) of all bronchiolitis cases were diagnosed in patients < 2 years, whereas more patients in older age groups were diagnosed with pneumonia. A greater proportion of hMPV patients diagnosed with viral coinfection (mostly respiratory syncytial virus and adenovirus) were <18 years. The highest percentages of intensive care unit admissions were recorded among patients < 18 years. Our findings demonstrate that hMPV is an important cause of morbidity in young children and a possibly underestimated cause of morbidity among older adults.