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. 2013 Nov 18;8(11):e79477.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079477. eCollection 2013.

Prevalence of herpes and respiratory viruses in induced sputum among hospitalized children with non typical bacterial community-acquired pneumonia

Weimin Zhou  1 , Feng Lin, Lingfang Teng, Hua Li, Jianyi Hou, Rui Tong, Changhua Zheng, Yongliang Lou, Wenjie Tan
Affiliations

Prevalence of herpes and respiratory viruses in induced sputum among hospitalized children with non typical bacterial community-acquired pneumonia

Weimin Zhou et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: Few comprehensive studies have searched for viruses in infants and young children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in China. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of human herpes viruses (HHVs) and other respiratory viruses in CAP not caused by typical bacterial infection and to determine their prevalence and clinical significance.

Methods: Induced sputum (IS) samples were collected from 354 hospitalised patients (infants, n = 205; children, n = 149) with respiratory illness (CAP or non-CAP) admitted to Wenling Hospital of China. We tested for HHVs and respiratory viruses using PCR-based assays. The epidemiological profiles were also analysed.

Results: High rate of virus detection (more than 98%) and co-infection (more than 80%) were found among IS samples from 354 hospitalised infants and children with respiratory illness in this study. Of 273 CAP samples tested, CMV (91.6%), HHV-6 (50.9%), RSV (37.4%), EBV (35.5%), HBoV (28.2%), HHV-7 (18.3%) and rhinovirus (17.2%) were the most commonly detected viruses. Of 81 non- CAP samples tested, CMV (63%), RSV (49.4%), HHV-6 (42%), EBV (24.7%), HHV-7 (13.6%) and HBoV (8.6%) were the dominant viruses detected. The prevalence of several viral agents (rhinovirus, bocavirus, adenovirus and CMV) among IS samples of CAP were significantly higher than that of non-CAP control group. We also found the prevalence of RSV coinfection with HHVs was also higher among CAP group than that of non-CAP control.

Conclusions: With sensitive molecular detection techniques and IS samples, high rates of viral identification were achieved in infants and young children with respiratory illness in a rural area of China. The clinical significance of rhinovirus, bocavirus, adenovirus and HHV (especially CMV) infections should receive greater attention in future treatment and prevention studies of CAP in infants and children.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution of viruses among different age groups in this study.
(A) Detection HHVs in CAP group; (B) Detection common respiratory viruses in CAP group; (C) Detection of HHVs in non-CAP group; (D) Detection common respiratory viruses in non-CAP group.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Seasons distribution of dominant viruses in IS samples of CAP patients from September of 2007 to April of 2008(Autumn: Sep. to Oct. of 2007; Winter: Nov. of 2007 to Jan. of 2008; Spring: Feb. to Apr. of 2008).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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