{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T05:16:57Z","timestamp":1788412617538,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787875200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: The objectives of this study were to analyze the epidemiological characteristics and whole-genome features of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) among children under 14 years of age in Shijiazhuang during 2022\u20132025, enrich the whole-genome data of HMPV in China, and provide a basis for further understanding the genetic diversity of the virus and for its prevention, control, and transmission intervention. Methods: A total of 1920 cases of acute respiratory infection were enrolled from three sentinel hospitals in Shijiazhuang. Nucleic acid screening was performed using real-time PCR. Whole-genome sequencing was conducted on 25 positive samples. Phylogenetic trees were constructed using the neighbor-joining method in MEGA, and nucleotide and amino acid sequence identity analyses were performed. Results: The overall detection rate of HMPV from 2022 to 2025 was 4.17%. A prominent peak in winter 2024 was the major distinguishing feature. Temporally, both influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases showed marked seasonality during 2022\u20132025, with high-incidence periods in December\u2013March and April\u2013June. BLAST alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that among the 25 sequenced HMPV specimens, genotype B2 was the most frequently identified genotype (13\/25, 52%). Conclusions: HMPV epidemics in Shijiazhuang during 2022\u20132025 mainly occurred in winter\u2013spring and spring\u2013summer, with a notable detection peak in December 2024. The B2 genotype predominated among the sequenced HMPV isolates obtained in this study. The amino acid variation in the G gene was significantly higher than that in other genomic regions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens15090909","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T12:41:18Z","timestamp":1788266478000},"page":"909","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Epidemiological and Molecular Characterization of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in Children Under 14 Years of Age in Shijiazhuang City, China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-0271-3801","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sihan","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Hebei Medical University, No. 361, Zhongshan East Road, Shijiazhuang 050017, China"},{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caixiao","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-7330-0588","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Minghao","family":"Geng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nana","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wentao","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziyi","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xianlei","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingyi","family":"Xue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Hebei Medical University, No. 361, Zhongshan East Road, Shijiazhuang 050017, China"},{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaojia","family":"Bian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Hebei Medical University, No. 361, Zhongshan East Road, Shijiazhuang 050017, China"},{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiuqi","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xu","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Hebei Medical University, No. 361, Zhongshan East Road, Shijiazhuang 050017, China"},{"name":"Hebei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 97, Huai\u2019an East Road, Shijiazhuang 050021, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"719","DOI":"10.1038\/89098","article-title":"A newly discovered human pneumovirus isolated from young children with respiratory tract disease","volume":"7","author":"Groen","year":"2001","journal-title":"Nat. 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