Respiratory viruses in children attending a major referral centre in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Viral respiratory infections are common causes of illness in infants and children. Examination of clinical specimens submitted for diagnosis during a 3-year period (August 1993-July 1996) at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH & RC) in Riyadh revealed a wide spectrum of diseases associated with the isolation of five respiratory viruses. Severity of disease ranged from mild upper respiratory illness to threatening lower respiratory illnesses including bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Of the 256 isolates, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) accounted for 73 (28.5%), adenoviruses for 70 (27.3%), influenza viruses for 61 (23.8%), enteroviruses for 39 (15.2%) and para-influenza for 13 (2.3%). Viruses were found more frequently in children attending emergency or paediatric wards than in outpatients. RSV appears in November and the seasonal peak occurs during January and February. Influenza activity begins in September and peaks in November and December. Para-influenza type I emerges in winter and para-influenza type III follows the influenza epidemic and may be detected sporadically in summer. The other viruses (enteroviruses, adenoviruses) were isolated throughout the year.

Incidence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Positivity in Young Italian Children Referred to the Emergency Departments for Lower Respiratory Tract Infection over Two Consecutive Epidemic Seasons

“…However, although group A viruses replicate to higher titers than group B viruses both in cell culture and in animals [18], studies evaluating relationship between RSV subtypes and disease severity have led to conflicting results [7,19,20]. Although we did not characterize the RSV subgroups in the two RSV seasons, the information that viruses within an individual group may be more virulent than others [7,19,20] and that, although temporal and geographic clustering may occur, different antigenic groups may co-circulate in a single epidemic period [12,[21][22][23][24], may at least partially explain our observations. Climate and environmental conditions may play a relevant role in RSV epidemics.…”

Co-Circulation of 72bp Duplication Group A and 60bp Duplication Group B Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Strains in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during 2014

“…RSV is an important viral pathogen among hospitalized children in Saudi Arabia [51,52,53,54]. Most of these studies have identified respiratory viruses by conventional methods i.e.…”

Respiratory syncytial virus subgroup A in hospitalized children in Zarqa, Jordan

“…This pattern is consistent with previous reports from temperate regions where RSV causes epidemics every midwinter with peak prevalences in January to March. [3][4][5]22,28 In tropical countries, however, RSV causes outbreaks in the hot, rainy season from June to November. 1,6 The prevalence of RSV in the coldest months of the year in Zarqa could be related to the fact that rain and cold weather make people stay indoors, in crowded conditions, which facilitates transmission of RSV in children.…”