During the past years, human coronaviruses (HCo. Vs) have been increasingly identified as pathogens associated with more-severe respiratory tract infection (RTI). Diagnostic tests for HCo. Vs are not frequently used in the routine setting. It is likely that, as a result, the precise role that HCo. Vs play in RTIs is greatly underestimated. We describe a rapid, sensitive, and highly specific quantitative real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the detection of HCoV that can easily be implemented in the routine diagnostic setting. HCoV was detected in 28 (11%) of the 261 clinical specimens obtained from patients presenting with symptoms of RTI ranging from common cold to severe pneumonia. Only 1 (0.4%) of the 243 control specimens obtained from patients without symptoms of RTI showed the presence of HCoV. We conclude that HCo. Vs can be frequently detected in patients presenting with RTI. Real-time RT-PCR provides a tool for large-scale epidemiological studies to further clarify the role that coronavirus infection plays in RTI in humans.
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