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. 2009 Jan;28(1):25-9.
doi: 10.1097/INF.0b013e3181861da0.

Rhinoviruses are a major cause of wheezing and hospitalization in children less than 2 years of age

Zofia Piotrowska  1 , Marietta Vázquez, Eugene D Shapiro, Carla Weibel, David Ferguson, Marie L Landry, Jeffrey S Kahn
Affiliations

Rhinoviruses are a major cause of wheezing and hospitalization in children less than 2 years of age

Zofia Piotrowska et al. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2009 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Human rhinoviruses (HRV) are now considered major respiratory pathogens. We sought to determine whether HRV are a cause of wheezing and/or hospitalization in children <2 years old.

Methods: A polymerase chain reaction assay was used to screen for HRV infection in 4 categories of children <2 years old: (1) with symptoms of respiratory tract disease without wheezing; (2) with wheezing with or without other symptoms; (3) who were asymptomatic and; (4) who had a respiratory specimen submitted to a diagnostic laboratory. All specimens were collected between January and December 2004. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on most HRV isolates.

Results: Twenty-eight (17%) of 165 children with symptoms of respiratory infection without wheezing; 21 (26.3%) of 80 children with wheezing; 3 (3%) of 93 asymptomatic children; and 47 (23.3%) of 202 children with specimens submitted to the diagnostic laboratory tested positive for HRV. The difference between the rates of infection in the asymptomatic group and in each of the 3 other categories was statistically significant (P </= 0.01). Among HRV-positive children with samples submitted to the diagnostic laboratory, 55% were hospitalized, which was similar to that observed for respiratory syncytial virus (52.7%) among children of a similar age group and time period (P = 0.85). Diverse groups of HRV were circulating during the 1-year study period.

Conclusions: HRV are important pathogens among children <2 years old and are responsible for a significant proportion of wheezing this age group. The hospitalization rates of HRV-positive children seem to be similar to that of respiratory syncytial virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interests: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percent of HRV(+) specimens per category. P-values versus asymptomatic control are indicated for each category. Fisher’s exact test was used for each pair-wise comparison.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Monthly distribution of HRV(+) specimens. The breakdown by category is indicated for each month.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of HRV(+) individuals by age at time of specimen collection. The breakdown of each bar by study category is indicated.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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