Prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus infection among hospitalized children presenting with acute lower respiratory tract infections

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of RSV among hospitalized young children presenting with ALRI in Bangalore, India.

Methods: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antigen detection was performed by direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) staining on 77 nasopharyngeal wash samples collected from hospitalized children below 2 years of age with a diagnosis of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI).

Results: Out of 77 samples tested for RSV with DFA, 17 (22.1%) were found RSV-positive with a mean age of 8.24 ± 7.21 months (M:F = 1.8:1). Three children had congenital cardiac disease and one child had a history of prematurity. One child had re-infection within one month of primary infection. RSV-infected children were more likely to have a diagnosis of bronchiolitis than RSV-negative children (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: RSV infection is a significant cause of morbidity among children presenting with ALRI in southern India. In resource-limited settings, DFA can be used as an important tool for rapid detection of RSV and can potentially eliminate prolonged hospitalization and unnecessary use of antibiotics.