Comparative epidemiology, hospital course, and outcomes of viral respiratory infections in hospitalized pediatric patients.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Acute respiratory illness is the leading cause of hospitalization for young children. Current guidelines recommend against testing to identify specific viruses due to a lack of data on the benefit of such testing. This study was designed to characterize epidemiology, hospital course, and outcomes of the various common virus -related hospitalization in children. METHOD: Single-center retrospective chart review. All patients who had respiratory viral panel sent within 48 h of admission. Comparative demographic and outcome analysis. Statistical analysis using ANOVA and multivariable regression. RESULT: 1831 patients met the study criteria. Rhinovirus was the most common virus (55.9%). Coronavirus had the highest proportion of infants (61.2%), while influenza had the least (17.8%). Positive urine culture identified in 8.1% of patients, with blood and urine positivity at 2% each. Rhinovirus and parainfluenza were spread throughout the year, while Corona, RSV, and influenza were more predominant in winter months. Overall PICU admission rate 22.8% and was highest for RSV (28.0%) and lowest for adenovirus (13.5%). No difference in ICU length of stay among different virus. Intubation rate was 5.6% with a median duration of 5 days. Median hospital length of stay was 2 days and differ significantly with different virus (maximum four RSV and metapneumo virus). Mortality in the study population was 0.3%. CONCLUSION: The difference in the disease course of different viruses may justify the resources required to test for the respiratory viral panel. This study data can serve as a benchmark for comparison of disease course of COVID-19 compared to other viral infections.