Objective To study the association between acute respiratory human parainfluenza virus (HPIV) infection and climatic factors in children. Methods A total of 2526 throat swab samples were collected from children with acute respiratory infection who visited the Pediatric Clinic of Shanghai Jiading Nanxiang Hospital between 2011 and 2013. HPIV was detected by multiplex RT-PCR. Related meteorological data were collected, including monthly mean temperature, monthly mean humidity, and monthly total rainfall. The association between HPIV detection rate and climatic factors was analyzed by Spearman's or Pearson test. Results During the three years, the overall HPIV detection rate was 5.62% (142/2526), and HPIV-1 was the most common type (46.5%), followed by HPIV-3(31.0%), HPIV-2(17.6%), and HPIV-4(4.9%). There were significant differences in the detection rates of HPIV-1 and HPIV-2 in different seasons, and the detection rates of both were the highest in summer (P<0.05). HPIV positive rate was positively correlated with monthly mean temperature (r=0.598; P<0.01) and monthly total rainfall (rs=0.602; P<0.01). Conclusions The activity of HPIV in children is correlated with climatic factors, particularly temperature and rainfall.