HIGHLIGHTS • PeV-A5 was the predominant PeV-A genotype detected from CSF/blood in 2024 at CM-KC. • CM-KC PeV-A5 sequences resemble PeV-A5 sequences reported in Sapporo City, Japan, in 2018. • The highest number of PeV-A5 detections within a single year in the USA. ABSTRACT Background Parechovirus-A5 (PeV-A5) blood and central nervous system (CNS) infections are rare in the United States of America (USA) and globally. We report an emergence of PeV-A5 infections among infants in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2024. Methods Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood samples from infants were tested for Parechovirus (PeV-A) in 2024 as a part of standard of care at Children's Mercy Kansas City (CM-KC). PeV-A testing included a two-step reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and genotyping was conducted using Sanger sequencing. We analyzed the amino acid sequences and phylogeny of the 2024 PeV-A viruses and described the clinical characteristics of PeV-A infected infants. Resu...
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