Viral Etiology in Acute Lower Respiratory Infections in Children from a Closed Community

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the viral agents associated with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in young children. During a 2-yr period, 204 nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) from children under 4 yr of age living in an orphanage and exhibiting febrile ALRI were studied by both indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and isolation in four cell lines. NPA cell smears as well as tissue culture cells exhibiting cytopathic effect (CPE) or hemadsorption were stained by IIF for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus, influenza A and B, and parainfluenza 1 and 3. Viral etiology was demonstrated in 21.2% of acute respiratory infection cases. The most frequently detected virus was RSV (53.5% of viral positive diagnoses), followed by unidentified viruses (18.6%), adenovirus (13.9%), influenza A (7%), and parainfluenza 3 (4.7%). The most common clinical entities were: bronchitis, 46.1%; pneumonia, 24%; bronchiolitis, 22%; and multifocal pneumonia, 8%. Malnourishment was found in 56% of children with ALRI, whereas 50% was found among total orphanage population. The 3 to 8-month-old age group accounted for half of all ALRI cases. Viral etiology was shown for 26.5% of patients with pneumonia, 22% with bronchitis, and 16% with bronchiolitis. RSV and adenovirus occurred in fall and winter, while parainfluenza 3 was detected in early spring. In the two fatal cases observed, histologic lesions were compatible with adenovirus infection, but this virus could be isolated from the lung in only one case.

Evaluation of a quantitative real-time PCR for the detection of respiratory syncytial virus in pulmonary diseases

“…RSV is the main cause of childhood viral ARI [28] and has been detected among other respiratory viruses, mainly influenza A, rhinovirus, coronaviruses and parainfluenza viruses, in exacerbations of COPD [29][30][31][32]. For older adults it has been shown that the diagnosis of RSV with less sensitive tests can be difficult and are not always reliable, leading to the complementary use of different methods for RSV detection [33,34].…”

Modeling Adenovirus Latency in Human Lymphocyte Cell Lines

“…The adenovirus species C serotypes (Ad1, Ad2, Ad5, and Ad6) are commonly associated with upper and lower respiratory tract infections in children less than 5 years of age (1,6,9). These viruses are only weakly pathogenic in normal hosts, where the rate of asymptomatic primary infection ranges from 50 to 90% (2,6,9).…”

Adenovirus DNA is detected at increased frequency in Guthrie cards from children who develop acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

“…The common, endemic species C adenoviruses (serotypes 1, 2, 5, and 6) normally cause respiratory tract infections in young children (Brandt et al, 1969;Avila et al, 1989) and persistent infection of lymphoid tissues (Garnett et al, 2002). We investigated whether adenovirus infections could be correlated with ALL by studying Guthrie cards from children who later developed ALL and healthy controls.…”