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Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital Boston, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
In my Editorial Commentary [1], I certainly did not intend to detract from the novelty and importance of the findings by van der Hoek et al. [2] in early 2004. As I pointed out clearly, Esper et al. [3] were unaware of van der Hoek et al.'s discovery of the Netherlands strain of human coronavirus (HCoV-NL63) when they designed their polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and apparently also when they first found the HCoV they designated the "New Haven coronavirus" (HCoV-NH). I described the methodology used by Esper et al. for finding the virus as "logical, intelligent, and highly original" (p. 489)as was, in fact, the different methodology used by van der Hoek et al.and the development of this methodology seemed to me at least as notable an accomplishment as the discovery of a "new" virus. In my Editorial Commentary, I also stated that HCoV-NH appeared to be similar to, and quite possibly (although not certainly) the same as, HCoV-NL63. The published sequence of HCoV-NH, which covered only a portion of a single gene from this very large genome, did not seem to be adequate to make a final decision on this point, however.
Regardless of whether HCoV-NH turns out to be, from a taxonomic viewpoint, the same as HCoV-NH63, the findings by Esper et al. are exciting and extend our knowledge of respiratory HCoVs, particularly in relation to pediatric disease. In addition, broader application of their PCR methodology offers to us the hope that we will find additional members of this family of viruses.
References
1. McIntosh K. Coronaviruses in the limelight. J Infect Dis 2005; 191:48991. First citation in article
2. van der Hoek L, Pyrc K, Jebbink MF, et al. Identification of a new human coronavirus. Nat Med 2004; 10:36873. First citation in article
3. Esper F, Weibel C, Ferguson D, Landry ML, Kahn JS. Evidence of a novel human coronavirus that is associated with respiratory tract disease in infants and young children. J Infect Dis 2005; 191:4928. First citation in article