On parechovirus prevalence and pathogenesis

Human parechovirus (HPeV) infections occur in childhood and are often subclinical or cause only mild symptoms. Why study them? Aside from the value of understanding the basic biology of this prevalent picornavirus genus, certain genotypes, HPeV3 in particular, have the potential to elicit severe illness such as sepsis, encephalitis and meningitis in infants. HPeVs were first isolated in 1956 and re-classified as a separate genus in 1997, yet their fundamental features from receptor specificity to antigenicity remain largely unknown. This thesis represents an investigation into the genotype-dependent differences in HPeV–host interactions (Chapters 1 and 2) and HPeV neutralization and epidemiology (Chapters 4-7).