Etiology and Clinical characteristics of bronchiolitis in Suzhou

Abstract

Background Bronchiolitis is a clinical syndrome commonly encountered in practice, particularly among infants and young children. To investigate the prevalence of pathogens in hospitalized infants with bronchiolitis and study the relationship between the clinical characteristics and pathogens. Methods We investigated the respiratory specimens and clinical data of 1012 children with bronchiolitis who were treated at the Children’s Hospital of Soochow University between November 2011 and December 2018. The nasopharyngeal aspirates were examined by direct immunofluorescence assay or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect viruses and by PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP). Results Of the 1012 children with bronchiolitis, 842 (83.2%) were detected at least a pathogen. 614 (60.7%) had single viral infections, 91 (9.0%) had MP infections, 70 (6.9%) had multiple viral infections, and 67 (6.6%) had mixed viral and MP infection. The most common pathogens detected were respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (44.4%), MP (15.6%), and human rhinovirus (HRV) (14.4%). RSV was the most common pathogen detected in children less than 6 months. Coinfection was detected in 13.5% (137/1012) of the children, but it was less common in children less than 6 months. The age of children with single virus infection was the youngest. Children with single virus infection had a higher proportion of oxygen therapy compared with single MP infection. Conclusions The most common pathogen detected in children with bronchiolitis is RSV, followed by MP and HRV. Co-infections lead to prolonged illness and worsening of the symptoms Keywords: Etiology, Bronchiolitis, Infant, Respiratory syncytial virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae