Human coronavirus NL63 recently found in the Netherlands has been detected in Japan with a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction technique in clinical specimens from pediatric patients with respiratory symptoms. Of 419 specimens that were negative for common respiratory viruses, 5 were positive for human coronavirus NL63, and these specimens were all collected in the first 3 months of 2003. Copyright ยฉ 2005 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.