Coronavirus Infection in Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Disease of Infants

A serologic surveillance of lower respiratory tract disease in 417 hospitalized children under 18 months of age revealed infection with coronaviruses (strains OC43 and/or 229E) in 34 (8.2%). During the same interval, one of 13 control infants was infected. There were two distinct periods lasting six and 14 weeks, respectively, during which the incidence rose to as high as 18.9% of patients with lower respiratory tract disease. The incidence of coronavirus infection in patients with pneumonia and bronchiolitis was higher than the incidences of adenoviruses, influenza, parainfluenza viruses types 1 and 2, and rhinoviruses, and lower only than the incidences of parainfluenza virus type 3 and respiratory syncytial virus. Coronaviruses serologically similar or identical to strain 229E were recovered from frozen nasal washes obtained during the acute phase of pneumonia in two children.