[Respiratory virus in children aged less than 10 years old suffering from respiratory infection in the Hospital Militar Central in Bogota from 2000-2001]. / Virus Respiratorios en Menores de Diez Años con Infección Respiratoria en el Hospital Militar Central de Bogotá 2000-2001.

OBJECTIVE: A study was carried out on children seeking medical care at the Hospital Militar (Hosmil) in Bogota due to acute respiratory infection; it was aimed at estimating the frequency of respiratory virus-associated acute respiratory disease (ARD) in children aged under 10. METHODS: Three to five children aged less than 10 years old were selected every week from the hospital's emergency ward or ambulatory services over an 18-month period from March 2000 to September 2001. Nasopharyngeal samples were obtained from them and processed using indirect immunofluorescence. The relative frequency of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza, adenovirus and parainfluenza were calculated. RESULTS: Around 40% of the 139 children examined proved positive for at least one respiratory virus. RSV was the most frequently found virus (27% positivity: 38 patients) followed by influenza (5%: 7 patients) and adenovirus (3%: 4 patients). RSV circulation peaks coincided with peaks related to ARD and pneumonia in the hospital: it was found most frequently in children aged less than 3 and was present throughout the year. CONCLUSION: Respiratory viruses were an important cause of moderate to severe respiratory illness in children seeking health care at Hosmil; RSV was the leading agent amongst such viruses.