Epidemiological investigation of pathogen spectrum in elderly patients with acute respiratory infection in Hai'an area / 公共卫生与预防医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To conduct an epidemiological investigation and analysis of pathogen spectrum infection in elderly patients with acute respiratory infection (ARI) in Hai'an area. Methods The throat swab specimens of 547 elderly patients with ARI collected in our hospital from January 2017 to December 2019 were selected for analysis. The RT-PCR method was used to detect the pathogens in the specimens, and the epidemiological characteristics of each pathogen infection was analyzed. Results The positive detection rate of the 547 specimens was 47.71% (261/547). Among the 261 positive samples, 10 types of respiratory pathogens and mixed infections were detected, mainly including 91 cases of influenza virus (34.87%), 42 cases of enterovirus (16.09%), and 36 cases of rhinovirus (13.79%). March, December, and September were the peak periods of pathogen detection, in which influenza virus was detected the highest in March (48.08%), enterovirus was highest in September (40.00%), and rhinoviruses was detected throughout the year. There was no significant difference in pathogen spectrum characteristics between different gender and age (P>0.05). Conclusion Influenza viruses, enteroviruses, and rhinoviruses are the main pathogens of infection in elderly patients with ARI in Hai’an area. Influenza viruses are high in spring and winter, and enteroviruses are high in autumn.