%0 Journal Article %A Alicia Annamalay %A Joelene Bizzintino %A Siew-Kim Khoo %A Imane Jroundi %A Chafiq Mahraoui %A Rachid Benmessaoud %A Cinta Moraleda %A Peter Le Souëf %A Quique Bassat %T Human rhinovirus species in children with acute lower respiratory infections in Rabat, Morocco %D 2015 %R 10.1183/13993003.congress-2015.PA2600 %J European Respiratory Journal %P PA2600 %V 46 %N suppl 59 %X Introduction: Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) are the leading cause of childhood mortality worldwide. Human rhinovirus (HRV), the primary cause of upper respiratory infections, has recently been associated with severe ALRI. The prevalence of HRV species among children in Morocco is unknown.Aims: We aimed to describe the prevalence and clinical features of HRV species associated with ALRI in children from Rabat, Morocco.Methods: As part of a large ALRI study, 700 children, 2-59 months of age, admitted to the Hôpital d'Enfants de Rabat with severe pneumonia were recruited over a period of 14 months. A respiratory virus was previously identified in 92% of cases, of which HRV (53%) was the most common. HRV species and genotypes were identified in a randomly selected subset of 183 children with a positive HRV result by semi-nested PCR assays, sequencing and phylogenetic tree analyses.Results: 183 HRV-positive children (66.1% male) with a mean age of 2.03 years were included in the current HRV analysis. 157 HRV-positive specimens were successfully genotyped, of which 60 (38.2%) were HRV-A, 8 (5.1%) were HRV-B and 89 (56.7%) were HRV-C. Pneumonia was more common among HRV-A positive children (40.0%) than HRV-C positive children (20.2%; p=0.009). Wheezing and cyanosis were more common among HRV-C positive children than HRV-A positive children (80.9% vs. 56.7%; p=0.001 and 10.1% vs. 0%; p=0.011 respectively). HRV-A was more prevalent in spring (43.3%) and autumn (31.7%) while HRV-C was highest in autumn (49.4%).Conclusions: HRV is likely to contribute to ALRI in hospitalized children in Morocco. HRV-A is associated with pneumonia while HRV-C is associated with wheeze-type illness. %U