HCoV-OC43 is the most common species. A large prospective surveillance study conducted in Norway from 2006 to 2015 that enrolled all hospitalized children aged ≤16 years with respiratory tract infections revealed that HCoVs OC43 and NL63
were detected most frequently and were epidemic every second winter. HCoV-HKU1 was prevalent every second winter during the year when detection rates for HCoVs OC43 and NL63 were low; HCoV-229E was the least common.

Common Coronaviruses outbreak frequency

HCov-229E

It is among the four identified coronaviruses which are known to continuously circulate in the human population, especially in young children. HCoV-NL63 was first isolated in Amsterdam in 2004 from the nasopharyngeal aspirate of a seven-month old child; the patient presented with symptoms suggesting respiratory tract infection (coryza, conjunctivitis, and fever), while his chest X-ray showed typical features of bronchiolitis

HCov-NL63

HCoV-OC43 was transmitted to humans about 1890.
HCoVs OC43 were isolated from nasal cavities of people with the common cold in the 1960s. In the 1970s, studies that used serology and viral culture linked OC43 with 8% of cases of lower respiratory tract infection(LRTI) in hospitalized infants.

HCoV-OC43

HCoV-HKU1

The types of common human coronaviruses are:
1. HCoV-229E (alpha coronavirus)
2. HCoV-NL63 (alpha coronavirus)
3. HCoV-OC43 (beta coronavirus)
4. HCoV-HKU1 (beta coronavirus)

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Common coronaviruses are viruses that cause mild to moderate respiratory illness in humans and is often responsible for upper respiratory tract disease and the common, seasonal cold. Most people are infected with a common coronavirus during their lifetime and recover on their own without treatment. They are found worldwide in temperate and tropical countries, as well as low-, middle-, and high-income countries.
HCoV infection can occur at any time of the year, with unpredictable year-to-year patterns, and outbreaks are reported in some years and in certain parts of the world. All common coronaviruses species may circulate yearly and even simultaneously, with the highest rates of HCoV infection seen in winter and spring months in temperate climates.

Common coronaviruses

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Ogimi, C., Kim, Y. J., Martin, E. T., Huh, H. J., Chiu, C. H., & Englund, J. A. (2020). What’s New With the Old Coronaviruses?. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
https://academic.oup.com/jpids/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jpids/piaa037/5823148

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