Co-circulation of multiple enterovirus D68 subclades, including a novel B3 cluster, across Europe in a season of expected low prevalence, 2019/20
Sofie Midgley, Kimberley Benschop, Robert Dyrdak, Audrey Mirand, Jean‐Luc Bailly, Sibylle Bierbaum, Stephan Buderus, Sindy Böttcher, Anna‐Maria Eis‐Hübinger, Mario Hönemann, Veronika Vorobieva Solholm Jensen, Ulla Birgitte Hartling, Cécile Henquell, Marcus Panning, Marianne Kragh Thomsen, Emma B. Hodcroft, Adam Meijer
Abstract
Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) was detected in 93 patients from five European countries between 1 January 2019 and 15 January 2020, a season with expected low circulation. Patients were primarily children (n = 67, median age: 4 years), 59 patients required hospitalisation and five had severe neurologic manifestations. Phylogenetic analysis revealed two clusters in the B3 subclade and subclade A2/D. This circulation of EV-D68 associated with neurological manifestations stresses the importance of surveillance and diagnostics beyond expected peak years.