Objective: Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is the major cause of
morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. Human respiratory
syncytial virus (HRSV) is main viral agent of ARI in infants and young
children in terms of effect and prevalence. The aim of this study was
to investigate HRSV genotypes during one season in Iran. Methods: In
this cross-sectional study, 107 throat swabs were collected from
children less than 5 years of age with acute respiratory infection from
October to December 2009. The respiratory samples were obtained from
several provinces: Tehran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Zanjan, Kordestan,
Lorestan and West Azarbayjan, and were tested for G protein gene of
HRSV by RT-PCR. Findings: Of the 107 respiratory samples, 24 (22.42%)
were positive for HRSV, of which 16 (66.6%) belonged to subgroup A and
8 (33.4%) to subgroup B. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that subgroup A
strains fell in two genotypes GA1 and GA2, whereas subgroup B strains
clustered in genotype BA. Conclusion: This study revealed that
multiple genotypes of HRSV cocirculated during the season 2009 in Iran.
Also subgroup A strains were more prevalent than subgroup B strains,
and genotype GA1 was predominant during the season