ABSTRACT
Real-time polymerase chain reaction for human bocavirus (HBoV) was performed in nasopharyngeal aspirate specimens from 166 children over 2 years of age hospitalized for severe asthma exacerbation. Whereas HBoV was detected in 21 of these children (13%), it was found in only 1 of 50 ambulatory children with stable asthma (2%), suggesting a major role of HBoV in acute exacerbations in asthmatic children.
Subject(s)
Asthma/virology , Bocavirus/isolation & purification , Nasopharynx/virology , Parvoviridae Infections/epidemiology , Adolescent , Bocavirus/genetics , Child , Child, Preschool , DNA, Viral/isolation & purification , Female , Hospitalization , Humans , Male , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Prospective Studies , Seasons , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
A virus was identified in 464 out of 1,212 patients, 8 days to 16 years of age, who were admitted to the hospital in Paris during a 3 year period. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was found in 428 patients, 74% were younger than 6 months with bronchiolitis, and 6% were older than 2 years. RSV was the first virus isolated in all patients and in those with pneumonia or asthma. The low number of admissions due to parainfluenzae viruses is characteristic of this area compared to other countries.
Subject(s)
Inpatients/statistics & numerical data , Respiratory Tract Infections/epidemiology , Virus Diseases/epidemiology , Antibodies, Viral/analysis , Child, Preschool , Female , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Male , Paris/epidemiology , Respiratory Tract Infections/virology , Retrospective Studies , Risk Factors , Time Factors , Virus Diseases/virology , Viruses/immunologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other important respiratory viruses in children hospitalized in a pediatric hospital in Paris (France) during a 3-year period (2001 to 2004). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included all patients aged 8 days to 16 years admitted from the community through emergency department with bronchiolitis, pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infection, asthma or acute isolated fever and who had nasopharyngeal samples taken for viral identification by immunofluorescence (RSV, influenza, para-influenza, and adenoviruses). RESULTS: A virus was found in 464 of 1208 patients with samples taken. RSV was identified in 375 patients, 74% of them younger than 6 months and diagnosed with bronchiolitis. RSV was isolated more often than any other virus, overall and for all diagnoses except "isolated fever," for which influenza was more frequent. In patients aged 24 months or older, influenza and RSV were identified at the same frequency. Overall, influenza virus was found in 53 patients, adenoviruses in 24 and para-influenza viruses in 11. CONCLUSION: RSV was the respiratory virus isolated most often, even in older children, during this 3-year study. The relative rarity of hospitalizations due to para-influenza viruses is characteristic of this area, compared with some other countries.
Subject(s)
Hospitalization , Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections/epidemiology , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Prevalence , Time FactorsABSTRACT
During the winter 2005-2006, all infants <4 months of age admitted for bronchiolitis or acute respiratory tract infection in a tertiary care pediatric hospital in Paris were tested for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pertussis with real-time polymerase-chain reaction (RT-PCR). A positive pertussis-PCR was found in 14/90 (16%) infants infected with RSV and in 5/30 negative for RSV. Similar clinical symptoms were found in all RSV-positive infants with or without pertussis co-infection. Most infants (73%) were not vaccinated against pertussis, and the other children had received one or two injections. In conclusion, pertussis-RSV co-infection is common in young infants, and pertussis-PCR should be used, whenever available.
