The data suggested that respiratory infection due to adenovirus was a low frequency event amongst the children seeking medical care at the sentinel hospitals. However, when respiratory disease was caused by adenovirus, it was severe.

RESUMENObjetivo Se llevo a cabo un estudio en niños que consultaban por infección respiratoria aguda al Hospital Militar (Hosmil) de Bogota, Colombia, con el objetivo de estimar la frecuencia de enfermedad respiratoria aguda en esa institución producida por algunos virus respiratorios. Métodos Durante 18 meses, de Marzo de 2000 a Septiembre de 2001, se seleccionaron semanalmente tres a cinco niños con infección respiratoria de aquellos que consultaban al servicio de emergencia o de consulta ambulatoria del Hospital. De cada uno de ellos se obtuvo muestras nasofaringeas que fueron examinadas por inmunofluorescencia para virus sincitial respiratorio (VSR), influenza, adenovirus y parainfluenza. Resultados Se estudiaron 139 niños de los cuales el 40 % fue positivo para alguno de los virus estudiados. El agente viral mas frecuentemente encontrado fue el VSR (27 %), seguido por el virus de la influenza (5 %) y adenovirus (3 %). La circulación de VSR coincidía con los picos de hospitalizaciones por IRA y por neumonía y del hospital, era mas frecuente en los niños menores de 3 años y se encontraba presente durante todo el año. Conclusiones Los virus respiratorios causan gran parte de la enfermedad respiratoria moderada o severa en el Hosmil y el VSR es el agente más importante entre ellos.Palabras Clave: Infección, virus, virus sincitial respiratorio, influenza, (fuente: DeCS, BIREME). 576 Jaramillo -Descentralizacion Salud-Mexico 577 ABSTRACTObjective 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.