The present paper aims to compare the sensitivity , specificity and accordance rate of consensusdegenerate hybrid oligonucleotide primer polymerase chain reaction (CODEHOP PCR) technique and commercial kit in diagnosis of paramyxovirus infection in clinical specimens and to further evaluate the value of CODEHOP PCR assay in detection of known and novel respiratory viruses. A total of 572 specimens from lower respiratory tract were collected from Children' Hospital of Shanghai inpatients with acute respiratory infections during 2011. These specimens were analyzed by CODEHOP PCR and commercial RV12 kit for the detection of paramyxoviruses, including known parainfluenza virus type 1 (PIV-1) , PIV-2 , PIV-3 , respiratory syncytial virus A (RSVA) , RSVB, human metapneumovirus (HMPV) and novel viruses. The results showed that 102 out of 572 specimens (19.76%) were detected positive by the RV12 kit, and 113 were detected positive by CODEHOP PCR. The accordance rate of the two methods was 85.39%. CODEHOP PCR is more sensitive than RV12 kit in detecting RSVA infection in cell culture. The study suggests that CODEHOP PCR is a powerful technique for the identification of paramyxoviruses in clinical specimens. It can be optimized by combining with some new techniques, and is worthy of application in the future.