This review examines the literature on the prevalence and clinical significance of respiratory viruses detected in asymptomatic individuals.
The medical literature of the past 4 decades was searched regarding respiratory virus detection by polymerase chain reaction and conventional methods (culture, antigen detection, serology) in asymptomatic subjects in an attempt to determine the prevalence and clinical significance of such viruses in normal persons.
Jartti et al. (Tue,) studied this question.