Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42723722›Full record

ArticleWellcome open research2026

Molecular Epidemiology of Human Metapneumovirus in Kilifi, Coastal Kenya, 2016-2017 and 2021-2024.

Dorcas Okanda, Samuel O Odoyo, Hillary Kiprono, Esther Katama, Grace Maina, Martin Mutunga, Joyce Nyiro, Charles N Agoti, George Githinji

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Wellcome open research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Dorcas OkandaEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3039-5544
Samuel O OdoyoEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5882-2416
Hillary KipronoEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.
Esther KatamaEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3399-3037
Grace MainaEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.
Martin MutungaEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.
Joyce NyiroEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7215-6539
Charles N AgotiEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2160-567X
George GithinjiEpidemiology and Demography, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research Coast, Kilifi, Kilifi County, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9640-7371

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a major contributor of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in childhood and vulnerable adults. It comprises two antigenically distinct lineages (A and B), with multiple sub-lineages. Genomic analyses of hMPV strains enable monitoring of viral evolution and transmission to inform future interventions but remain underutilized in Africa. Methods: We generated 52 near-complete hMPV genomes from respiratory samples collected in Kilifi, Coastal Kenya, using a tiled-amplicon approach and Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing. These samples had been identified as hMPV positive by quantitative PCR during (a) a multi-facility outpatient ARI surveillance in nine health facilities in Kilifi between 2016 and 2017, and 2021 to 2023 and (b) a community-based respiratory infection cohort surveillance study between 2023-2024 that sampled enrolled participants irrespective of symptom status. Results: Of the 192 positive samples analyzed from the two studies, children under 5 years accounted for most hMPV cases (134/186, 72%). 52 samples were sequenced (>70% genome coverage), and hMPV-A (27/52, 53.8%) and hMPV-B (25/52, 46.2%) lineages were identified. The recovered sequences mapped into sub-lineages A2c (27/52, 53.8%), B1 (12/52, 21.2%), and B2b (13/52, 25%). A shift in the predominant sub-lineage was observed from B2b (2016) to B1 (2021), and finally to A2c-wild type (2023). In February 2021, for the first time, we detected a single A2c strain with a 111-nucleotide duplication in the G gene among Kenyan samples. Conclusion: Our study expands the global nucleotide sequence database for hMPV by adding new whole-genome sequences from Kenya collected over the last decade. It highlights the ongoing replacement of locally predominant hMPV lineages and the importation and local transmission of globally circulating strains. These findings underscore the importance of sustained hMPV genomic surveillance to detect emerging variants and monitor lineage circulation patterns that may impact viral transmission, molecular detection, and future control measures.

Indexed as

A2c-111nt-duphMPVKenyaKilifiOxford Nanopore Technologieswhole genome sequencing

Identifiers

PMID42723722
PMCPMC13555068

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.