Table 1.

Biological characteristics and taxonomy of the major respiratory viruses.

	Influenza	Parainfluenza	Syncytial	Adenovirus	Rhinovirus	Coronavirus	Metapneumovirus	Bocavirus
Family	Orthomyxoviridae	Paramyxoviridae	Paramyxoviridae	Adenoviridae	Picornaviridae	Coronaviridae	Paramyxoviridae	Parvoviridae
Core of nucleic acid	RNA	RNA	RNA	DNA	RNA	RNA	RNA	DNA
Symmetry of the capsid	Helical	Helical	Helical	Icosahedral	Icosahedral	Pleomorphic	Pleomorphic	Icosahedral
Viral envelope	Enveloped	Enveloped	Enveloped	Naked	Naked	Enveloped	Enveloped	Naked
Sensitivity to ether	Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive	Resistant	Resistant	Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive
Type of nucleic acid	Single strand negative	Single negative	Single negative	Double	Single positive	Single positive	Single negative	Single negative
Nucleic acid size (kb/kbp)	10 to 13.6	15	15	40	7.2	27 to 31.5	13	5
Particle size (nm)	80 to120nm	150 to 300	150 to 300	70 to 90	28 to 30	100 to 160	150 to 600	22 to 28