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Abstract
Respiratory tract infection is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially among young children. Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) have only recently been shown to cause both lower and upper respiratory tract infections. To date, five coronaviruses (HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, SARS-CoV, HCoV-NL63 and HCoV HKU-1) that infect humans have been identified, four of which (HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-HKU-1) circulate continuously in the human population. Human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63) was first isolated from the aspirate from a 7-month-old baby in early 2004. Infection with HCoV-NL63 has since been shown to be a common worldwide occurrence and has been associated with many clinical symptoms and diagnoses, including severe lower respiratory tract infection, croup and bronchiolitis. HCoV-NL63 causes disease in children, the elderly and the immunocompromised, and has been detected in 1.0–9.3% of respiratory tract infections in children. In this article, the current knowledge of human coronavirus HCoV-NL63, with special reference to the clinical features, prevalence and seasonal incidence, and coinfection with other respiratory viruses, will be discussed.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The author receives funding from the National Research Foundation (South Africa) and the University of the Western Cape Senate Research Fund. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.