Parainfluenza virus

Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs)
Virus classification
Group:	Group V ((−)ssRNA)
Order:	Mononegavirales
Family:	Paramyxoviridae
Genus:	Respirovirus & Rubulavirus

Human parainfluenza viruses
Classification and external resources
Specialty	pulmonology
ICD-10	B34.8, J12.2, J20.4
ICD-9-CM	480.2
DiseasesDB	30631
MedlinePlus	001370
MeSH	D018184
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Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) are the viruses that cause human parainfluenza. HPIVs are a group of four distinct single-stranded RNA viruses belonging to the Paramyxoviridae family. These viruses are closely associated with both human and veterinary disease. Virions are approximately 150–250 nm in size and contain negative sense RNA with a genome encompassing ~15,000 nucleotides.

The viruses can be detected via cell culture, immunofluorescent microscopy, and PCR. HPIVs remain the second main cause of hospitalisation in children under 5 years of age suffering from a respiratory illness (only respiratory syncytial virus causes more respiratory hospitalisations for this age group).

The first HPIV was discovered in the late 1950s. The taxonomic division is broadly based on antigenic and genetic characteristics, forming four major serotypes or clades, which today are considered distinct viruses. These include:

HPIVs belong to two genera: Respirovirus (HPIV-1 & HPIV-3) and Rubulavirus (HPIV-2 & HPIV-4).

hPIVs are characterised by producing enveloped virions and containing single stranded negative sense RNA. Non-infectious virions have also been reported to contain RNA with positive polarity. HPIV genomes are about 15,000 nucleotides in length and encode six key structural proteins.

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