Role of respiratory viruses in infants less than six months of age with upper respiratory tract infections
Abstract
Objective: With a wide range of clinical presentations, respiratory tract infections remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in infants. The aim of this cross-sectional descriptive study was to determine the frequency of respiratory viruses responsible for upper respiratory tract infections during the 2013-2014 influenza season in infants less than 6 months of age.
Method: Nasal swabs were obtained from patients with symptoms suggestive of an influenza-like illness (ILI) between January and April 2014. Specimens were evaluated by RT-PCR to help identify the causative viral pathogens.
Results: A total of 150 patients with ILI were enrolled in the study. A respiratory virus was successfully detected in 126 (86%) infants; RSV in 41 (32.5%), rhinovirus in 17 (13.4%), metapneumovirus in 15 (11.9%), coronavirus in 11 (8.7%), adenovirus in 5 (3.9%), parainfluenza virus in 2 (1.5%) and bocavirus in 2 (1.5%) infants. Thirty-three (26.1%) patients were found to be co-infected with both two viruses. Rhinorrhea and developing complications were significantly more frequently seen in RT-PCR positive patients (p=0.023 and p=0.019, respectively). All complications were seen in RT-PCR positive group, especially in metapneumovirus, RSV and multiple viruses positive patients.
Conclusions: With an overall viral pathogen detection rate of 86%, findings of our study present that influenza viruses were not seen in infants less than 6 months of age in our study population, whether RSV and multiple viral infections were the most common causes in this age group.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Health Care Administration
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Eda Karadağ Öncel
Demet Başer
Meral Ciblak
Yasemin Özsürekçi
Cihangül Bayhan
Selim Badur
Publication Date
September 19, 2017
Submission Date
March 29, 2017
Acceptance Date
June 5, 2017
Published in Issue
Year 1970 Volume: 39 Number: 3