HCoV-HKU1 is another endemic coronavirus that causes wintertime “cold” illnesses; although usually mild, it can cause pneumonia or exacerbations of chronic lung disease in older or immunocompromised patients. Identifying HKU1 can explain seasonal respiratory illness clusters and guide infection control (Gaunt et al. 2010, Jo et al. 2022).
Jo, K. J., Choi, S. H., Oh, C. E., Kim, H., Choi, B. S., Jo, D. S., & Park, S. E. (2022). Epidemiology and Clinical Characteristics of Human Coronaviruses-Associated Infections in Children: A Multi-Center Study. Frontiers in pediatrics, 10, 877759. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.877759
Gaunt, E. R., Hardie, A., Claas, E. C., Simmonds, P., & Templeton, K. E. (2010). Epidemiology and clinical presentations of the four human coronaviruses 229E, HKU1, NL63, and OC43 detected over 3 years using a novel multiplex real-time PCR method. Journal of clinical microbiology, 48(8), 2940–2947. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00636-10
