Key result
Viral pathogens account for ~76% of pediatric acute respiratory hospitalizations, primarily enterovirus/rhinovirus and RSV.
Why the study?
Limited epidemiological information exists on the main viral agents causing acute respiratory disease in children in many geographic regions including Kurdistan, Iraq.
Observational (n=269)
No
Enterovirus/rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial virus are the most common viral agents causing acute respiratory disease in hospitalized children in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Informs local viral surveillance in understudied regions; leaves open generalizability and need for prospective validation.
Viral respiratory infections are among the most common causes of disease in humans, particularly in young children, and remain a major public health problem worldwide. For many geographic regions, there is limited epidemiological information on the main causative agents of these diseases. In this article, we investigated, in a prospective study, the viral agents leading to acute respiratory disease in children younger than 15 years of age who were admitted to the pediatric emergency unit of a major teaching hospital in Erbil City, capital of the Kurdistan region, Iraq. Nasopharyngeal samples obtained from 269 hospitalized children were analyzed for viral respiratory pathogens using the xTAG Respiratory Virus Panel Fast assay, and the data were correlated with the clinical and demographic information available for these patients. One or more respiratory virus(es) were detected in 203 out of 269 (75.5%) samples. The most frequent viruses were enterovirus/rhinovirus (n = 88; 32.7%), respiratory syncytial virus (n = 55; 20.4%), and human metapneumovirus (n = 36; 13.4%). In 42 samples (15.6%), coinfections with 2 or more respiratory viruses were detected, with enterovirus/rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus, and adenovirus being identified as the most common agents in viral coinfections in these patients.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Hassan et al. (2018) conducted an observational in Acute respiratory disease (n=269). Viral respiratory pathogens was evaluated on Detection of one or more respiratory virus(es). Viral respiratory pathogens were detected in 75.5% of hospitalized children with acute respiratory disease, most frequently enterovirus/rhinovirus (32.7%) and respiratory syncytial virus (20.4%).
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: