Influenza and respiratory syncytial viral infections in Malaysia: Demographic and clinical perspective

ABSTRACT

Respiratory infections represent a major public health problem worldwide. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of respiratory syncytial and influenza virus infections and analyzed in respect to demography and clinical perspective. The specimens were processed by cell culture and immunofluorescent assay [IFA] and real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR [rRT-PCR] for detection of respiratory viruses. Out of 505 specimens 189 [37.8%] were positive, in which RSV was positive in 124[24.8%] cases and influenza A was positive in 65[13%] cases. Positive cases for influenza virus A and RSV were analyzed based on demography age, gender, ethnicity and clinical symptoms. There were no significant differences among gender, ethnicity and clinical symptoms in both RSV and influenza A virus infections. It was observed that children below 3 years of ages were more prone to RSV infections. On the contrary, influenza virus A infected all age groups of humans. RSV infects mostly child below 3 years of age and influenza virus infects all age group. No specificity of RSV and influenza infection in relation to demography