Paramyxovirus Sequencing

Human parainfluenza virus (HPIV) 1,2,3, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) as a group cause significant upper and lower (LRI) respiratory infections in young children, the elderly, immunocompromised patients and those with chronic medical disease. Although these viruses pose a significant health and economic burden on adults there are more data on their burden in the pediatric populations.

The Paramyxoviridae family is a large rapidly growing group of viruses that cause significant human and animal disease. A typical virus has a single negative strand of RNA in its genome and is surrounded by a lipid envelope of host cell origin. These medium size viruses (150-200 nm) are all similar in their structural, physiochemical, and biological characteristics except that Pneumo and Metapneumoviruses have narrower nucleocapsids.

Despite advancements in prevention and therapy, LRI continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children world-wide. The genomic data generated from this project is expected to increase the ability to understand the genomic diversity, the changes in virus/host interactions with vaccines or with new high affinity mAb therapeutics and enable studying the evolution of the virus under these new pressures within populations and within individuals.

White Paper Access

The initial white paper submitted can be downloaded here. Since white papers are not always approved exactly as submitted, this document may not exactly describe the final form of the project. Please contact gsc@jcvi.org if you have any questions.

Publications

Funding