Epidemiological characteristics of respiratory syncytial virus infection in children in Shenzhen Area during summer of 2020

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To investigate the clinical characteristics and serotyping characteristics of respiratory syncytial virus(RSV)infection in children prevalent during summer of 2020 in Shenzhen City, and provide basis for the diagnosis, monitoring and prevention of RSV infection in this area.

The clinical data of 509 cases of RSV infection were analyzed in the Respiratory Department at Shenzhen Children′s Hospital from July 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020.The children diagnosed with pneumonia were divided into mild RSV pneumonia group and severe RSV pneumonia group according to the severity.The age, sex, clinical manifestations, basic diseases, mixed infection, clinical diagnosis of the patients were analyzed.

In 509 children with RSV infection, the male to female ratio was 1.84∶1, and the mean thermal range was (3.98±3.25) d. The detection rate of RSV was 51.4% (126/245) in children aged < 6 months, 45.6% (247/542) in children aged from 6 months to 2 years, 41.8% (123/294) in children aged from 2 to 5 years, and 8.5% (13/153) in children aged > 5 years.Common clinical manifestations were cough (96.2%), fever (72.5%), runny nose (61.9%), and nasal congestion (54.6%). Of the 509 cases, 123 (24.2%) had underlying diseases and 49 (9.6%) had mixed infections.A total of 371 cases had RSV pneumonia, including 280 mild cases (55.0%) and 91 severe cases (17.8%). Compared with the mild RSV pneumonia group, the severe RSV pneumonia group was significantly higher in male, age < 1 years, proportion of wheezing, underlying disease, mixed infection, and hospitalization time and fever time (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that age less than 1 year, mixed infection and underlying diseases were the high risk factors of severe RSV pneumonia( OR=10.1, 14.3 and 3.4, respectively, all P<0.05). Of the 198 serotyping cases, 18 were type A and 180 were type B.

During the summer of 2020, the epidemic of RSV infection in children in Shenzhen is dominated by type B. In addition to children aged from 6 months to 2 years, children aged 2-5 years are also susceptible groups.Age<1 year, underlying diseases and mixed infection are independent risk factors of severe RSV pneumonia in children.