Journal of Clinical Virology - Volume 82 - Supplement 1 - September 2016

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S118 Abstracts / Journal of Clinical Virology 82S (2016) S1–S142
In addition, HRSV-B viruses belonged to BA9 (153; 83%), BA10 (9;
5%) and an undefined BA (1; 1%). Nevertheless, 21 (11%) sequences
from 2014 to 2015 season, closely related to the BA9 genotype,
clustered together with a bootstrap value of 100% showing a p-
distance between members of 0.006 and an average divergence
within group of 0.004. Therefore, according to the criterion used
by Venter et al. (J Gen Virol2001; 82 (9): 2117-24), they might
belong to a novel genotype (purposed name as BA13 in this study).
However, viruses belonging to this new genotype were not found
during the subsequent 2015–2016 season.
Discussion and conclusions: Co-circulation of both HRSV
groups has been reported during the three seasons. An alterna-
tion of the predominant HRSV group was shown during these three
consecutive seasons. Although several genotypes were reported,
the most of viruses belong to ON1 (HRSV-A) and BA9 (HRSV-B).
The present study reports recent valuable data about the genetic
diversity of circulating HRSV in the Southern Europe.
Abstract no: 263
Presentation at ESCV 2016: Poster 197
Evaluation of interferon lambda 4 nucleotide
polymorphism in infants suffering from
bronchiolitis
A. Pierangeli ∗, C. Scagnolari , I. Calicchia ,
I. Sciandra Gentile enna idulla
G. Antonelli
1 Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza
University Rome, Italy
2 Department of Pediatrics, Sapienza University
Rome, Italy
The clinical spectrum of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-
associated bronchiolitis in infants is variable, ranging from a mild
disease to a severe respiratory distress causing hospitalization. It
is acquired that immune response and genetic heterogeneity of
the host, together with well-known viral risk factors, contribute
to RSV disease severity. Recent studies showed the importance of
interferon (IFN) Lambda in the protection against RSV and other
respiratory viruses. Our previous studies in bronchiolitis patients
demonstrated higher mRNA levels of IFN Lambdas and of IFN-
stimulated genes in RSV-positive infants than in infants with HRV
infection.
Recently, it was shown that the novel ss469415590 SNP is
more strongly associated with spontaneous HCV clearance and
treatment-induced response than the IFN-lambda 3/IL28B SNP
rs12979860. The ss469415590 SNP is a di-nucleotide mutant
(TT > G) located in the region upstream IL28B gene; the unfavor-
able G allele is a frameshift variant creating the gene encoding a
functional protein designated IFN-lambda 4 (IFNL4).
Given the importance of the IFN lambda in respiratory infec-
tions, we sought to evaluatewhether IFNL4 SNP could be associated
with bronchiolitis severity. Hence, infants admitted to the Paedi-
atric Department of Umberto I University Hospital, with a clinical
diagnosis of bronchiolitis, were tested for ss469415590 SNP. Bron-
chiolitis severity was assessed with a score, based on respiratory
rate, arterial oxygen saturation, presence of retractions and ability
to feed (score range 0–8). For each sample, detection of 14 major
respiratory viruses was performed and 122 samples positive only
to RSV were selected for this preliminary study. DNA for the haplo-
type analysis was obtained from a buccal swab, when available or
from archivial cell pellets from respiratory samples. TT/ G geno-
typing was performed with the “StepOne Real-Time PCR System”
method, using primers specific for the amplificationof the polymor-
phic sequence and two TaqMan-MGB probes specific for each allele
(Express program and Genotyping assay service Applied Biosystem).
The presence of at least one G allele (homo- or heterozygous)
was significantly associated with overall disease severity (severity
score 5–8), and related clinical parameters (but not with length
of hospital stay, age or weight at hospital admission, weight at
birth or gestational age, number of blood cells). Our previous study
showed that infants carrying IL28B rs12979860 TT allele, that is in
strong/moderate linkage disequilibrium with the IFNL4 G allele,
had lower age at hospital admission, but did not suffer from a more
severe bronchiolitis course. However, that study did not examine
determinants of bronchiolitis severity in the RSV-infected children
separately, because of a smaller number of samples.
The present data suggest the importance of detecting IFNL4 SNPs
in a larger group of infants affectedwith bronchiolitis. Further stud-
ies are needed also to understand the protective or detrimental
effects of IFNL4 production during respiratory virus infections.
Abstract n ◦: 266
Presentation at ESCV 2016: Poster 198
Patterns of respiratory pathogen nasal
colonization in the first year of life in healthy
infants and infants with cystic fibrosis
Insa Korten ∗ lisabeth Kieninger
Njima Schläpfer , Christine C. Ginocchio ,
Carole Janis kipe Klenja
Maria Teresa Barbani , Urs Frey ,
Nicolas Regamey , Claudia Kuehni ,
Markus Hilty , Carmen Casaulta ,
Philipp Latzin , Meri Gorgievski
1 Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of
Pediatrics, Inselspital and University of Bern,
Switzerland
2 Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine,
Hempstead, NY, USA
3 BioMérieuxSA, Verniolle, France
4 Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern,
Switzerland
5 University Children’s Hospital (UKBB), Basel,
Switzerland
6 Division of Respiratory Medicine, Children’s
Hospital Luzern, Switzerland
7 Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine,
University of Bern, Switzerland
Introduction and study aims:Respiratory infections are known
to play a major role in morbidity and mortality, especially in early
childhood and infancy. A number of studies have investigated
pathogen colonization in otherwise healthy infants using PCR anal-
ysis of nasal swab material as an established diagnostic method.
However, little is known about pathogen colonization in infants
with chronic respiratory diseases like cystic fibrosis (CF). The aims
of our study were: (1) to investigate feasibility and quality of
parental collected nasal swab material for respiratory diagnostics;
(2) to analyze possible differences in viral and atypical pathogen
(Chlamydophila pnumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae) colonization
in healthy infants compared to infants with CF.
Methods: 31 infants with CF and 32 unselected healthy infants
were included in this prospective longitudinal study spanning
the first year of life. Biweekly nasal FLOQSwabsTM (n = 1398)
placed in UTM-RT TM (Copan, Italia) were collected by parents after