Review on Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology of Human Rhinovirus–Associated Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in African and Southeast Asian Children

BACKGROUND: The detection of human rhinoviruses (HRV) is highly prevalent in children with pneumonia, bronchiolitis, acute asthma and croup; however, there is also evidence that HRV is common in asymptomatic individuals. The majority of studies on the role of different HRV serotypes during acute respiratory tract infections episodes have limited sample size to fully characterize the epidemiology of HRV infection, including those from low-middle income countries, where the burden of childhood respiratory disease is greatest. METHODS: We systematically reviewed HRV clinical and molecular epidemiology in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Southeast Asia before November 2015. RESULTS: We identified 31 studies, which included data from 13 African and 6 Southeast Asian countries, emphasizing the gaps in knowledge surrounding HRV infections. HRV was one of the most prevalent respiratory viruses detected during childhood respiratory disease (13%-59%); however, many studies could not determine the attributable role of HRV in the pathogenesis of acute respiratory infections due to high prevalence of detection among asymptomatic individuals (6%-50%). A meta-analysis showed no significant difference in the prevalence of HRV identification between children of different age groups; or between children with severe disease compared with asymptomatic children. CONCLUSIONS: These data highlight the need for large-scale surveillance projects to determine the attributable etiologic role of HRV in respiratory disease.