Species‐specific clinical characteristics of human coronavirus infection among otherwise healthy adolescents and adults

• DOI: 10.1111/irv.12538
• Publication Date: 2018-01-19T14:26:05Z
• Authors: Monique Bouvier; Wei‐Ju Chen; John C. Arnold; Mary P. Fairchok; Patrick J. Danaher; Tahaniyat Lalani; Leslie Malone; Deepika Mor; Michelande Ridoré; Timothy H. Burgess; Eugene V. Millar
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine; Adolescent; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Epidemiology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Betacoronavirus; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Respiratory Tract Infections; Aged; Alphacoronavirus; Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Short Articles; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Infectious Diseases; RNA, Viral; Female; Coronavirus Infections

Human coronavirus (HCoV) is a known cause of influenza‐like illness (ILI). In a multisite, observational, longitudinal study of ILI among otherwise healthy adolescents and adults, 12% of subjects were PCR‐positive for HCoV. The distribution of species was as follows: HCoV‐OC43 (34%), HCoV‐229E (28%), HCoV‐NL63 (22%), and HCoV‐HKU1 (16%). We did not observe species‐specific differences in the clinical characteristics of HCoV infection, with the exception of HCoV‐HKU1, for which the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms trended higher on the fourth day of illness.