Research of the genetic diversity of human rhinoviruses on the territory of Saint Petersburg 2021–2022

BACKGROUND: Respiratory viruses circulate everywhere. Rhinoviruses are the most common cause of human upper respiratory tract infections. Therefore, it is necessary to study circulation of their species and types. AIM: To study circulation of different species and types of rhinoviruses in Saint Petersburg. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Detection of rhinoviruses was carried out by real-time PCR using commercial kits AmpliSens ORVI-screen-FL (Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, Moscow); the study of the genetic diversity of rhinoviruses was carried out by Sanger sequencing method; alignment of the obtained sequences was carried out in the MAFFT program, the phylogenetic tree was built in the RAxML program, visualization was carried out in FigTree. RESULTS: The most common species of human rhinoviruses circulating in Saint Petersburg are HRV-A, while the types of rhinoviruses almost never repeat. CONCLUSIONS: On the territory of St. Petersburg, the genetic diversity of rhinoviruses is very widely represented. From December 2020 to October 2021, 70 rhinoviruses were typed, with HRV-A rhinoviruses being the most common (38 rhinoviruses, or 54%). HRV-C and HRV-B were detected in equal numbers (16 rhinoviruses, or 23% each). Phylogenetic trees of genetic types of rhinovirus species A, B, and C were built. The types of rhinoviruses are highly variable, which complicates their study, as well as the development of vaccines against them. Nevertheless, rhinoviruses significantly affect the epidemiological situation, rhinovirus infections can lead to serious health consequences, so they need to be studied.