The relationship between viruses and clinical findings in hospitalized children diagnosed with acute lower respiratory tract infection

Objective: In this retrospective study, we aimed to identify viral agents in children hospitalized with ALRTI and to show the relationship between viral agents and clinical characteristics. Material and Methods: Two hundred and fifty five children (55.7% male) who were diagnosed with ALRTI and hospitalized between March 2016 and February 2017 were included in the study. Clinical characteristics of the patients who were examined to detect respiratory tract viruses with PCR analysis in nasopharyngeal swab samples were evaluated by using medical records. The patients were divided into three groups according to their age: under two years old, between 2-6 years old, and between 6-18 years old. Newborns were not included in the study.