Key result
Viral pathogens are found in ~77% of severe bronchiolitis cases, linked to prolonged respiratory support.
Why the study?
Bronchiolitis is a leading cause of pediatric emergency visits and hospitalization in infants, with a broad spectrum of clinical severity.
Observational (n=305)
No
Absolute Event Rate: 77.2% vs 21.1%
p-value: p=<0.001
Bronchiolitis severity is significantly associated with viral detection, bacterial superinfection, and specific clinical and laboratory markers, which may help identify high-risk pediatric patients.
May facilitate risk stratification using viral detection and comorbidities in bronchiolitis; extends observational evidence but should not yet change practice.
Aims: Bronchiolitis is a leading cause of pediatric emergency visits and hospitalization in infants, with a broad spectrum of clinical severity. This prospective study aimed to evaluate demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and microbiological characteristics of children with bronchiolitis and to analyze their association with disease severity according to Wang’s criteria. Methods: A total of 305 children aged 0–24 months who presented to the pediatric emergency department of our institution and were diagnosed with bronchiolitis were prospectively enrolled. Patients were classified as having mild, moderate, or severe bronchiolitis. Demographic features, clinical findings, laboratory parameters, imaging results, respiratory support requirements, length of hospital stay, and viral and bacterial etiologies were recorded and analyzed.Results: The median age was 7 months, and 61.6% of patients were male. Mild, moderate, and severe bronchiolitis were observed in 49.8%, 31.5%, and 18.7% of patients, respectively. Recurrent respiratory tract infections were more frequent in moderate and severe disease (29.2% and 22.8%) compared with mild cases (11.2%; p=0.001). Chronic comorbidities were also associated with higher severity (p=0.007). Hospitalization rates increased significantly with severity (14.5% in mild vs 80.2% in moderate and 57.9% in severe cases; p
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Akkuş et al. (2026) conducted an observational in Bronchiolitis (n=305). Viral and bacterial pathogen detection vs. No pathogen detected / Mild bronchiolitis was evaluated on Viral pathogen detection in severe versus mild bronchiolitis (p=<0.001). Viral pathogens were detected in 77.2% of severe bronchiolitis cases versus 21.1% of mild cases, significantly increasing the likelihood of prolonged respiratory support and hospitalization.
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