Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Feb 25;9(2):e89978.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089978. eCollection 2014.

Population-based incidence of severe acute respiratory virus infections among children aged <5 years in rural Bangladesh, June-October 2010

Sharifa Nasreen  1 , Stephen P Luby  2 , W Abdullah Brooks  1 , Nusrat Homaira  1 , Abdullah Al Mamun  1 , Mejbah Uddin Bhuiyan  1 , Mustafizur Rahman  1 , Dilruba Ahmed  1 , Jaynal Abedin  1 , Mahmudur Rahman  3 , A S M Alamgir  3 , Alicia M Fry  4 , Peter Kim Streatfield  1 , Anisur Rahman  1 , Joseph Bresee  4 , Marc-Alain Widdowson  4 , Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner  2
Affiliations

Population-based incidence of severe acute respiratory virus infections among children aged <5 years in rural Bangladesh, June-October 2010

Sharifa Nasreen et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Better understanding the etiology-specific incidence of severe acute respiratory infections (SARIs) in resource-poor, rural settings will help further develop and prioritize prevention strategies. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a longitudinal study to estimate the incidence of SARIs among children in rural Bangladesh.

Methods: During June through October 2010, we followed children aged <5 years in 67 villages to identify those with cough, difficulty breathing, age-specific tachypnea and/or danger signs in the community or admitted to the local hospital. A study physician collected clinical information and obtained nasopharyngeal swabs from all SARI cases and blood for bacterial culture from those hospitalized. We tested swabs for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza viruses, human metapneumoviruses, adenoviruses and human parainfluenza viruses 1-3 (HPIV) by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. We calculated virus-specific SARI incidence by dividing the number of new illnesses by the person-time each child contributed to the study.

Results: We followed 12,850 children for 279,029 person-weeks (pw) and identified 141 SARI cases; 76 (54%) at their homes and 65 (46%) at the hospital. RSV was associated with 7.9 SARI hospitalizations per 100,000 pw, HPIV3 2.2 hospitalizations/100,000 pw, and influenza 1.1 hospitalizations/100,000 pw. Among non-hospitalized SARI cases, RSV was associated with 10.8 illnesses/100,000 pw, HPIV3 1.8/100,000 pw, influenza 1.4/100,000 pw, and adenoviruses 0.4/100,000 pw.

Conclusion: Respiratory viruses, particularly RSV, were commonly associated with SARI among children. It may be useful to explore the value of investing in prevention strategies, such as handwashing and respiratory hygiene, to reduce respiratory infections among young children in such settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

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

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study site and location of all severe acute respiratory infection cases, Matlab, Bangladesh–2010.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Respiratory viruses identified among children aged <5 years with severe acute respiratory infections during the typical influenza epidemic period in Bangladesh rainy season, 2010.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates, ORC Macro (2005) Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2004. Dhaka, Bangladesh and Calverton, Maryland [USA]: National Institute of Population Research and Training, Mitra and Associates, and ORC Macro.
    1. Rudan I, Boschi-Pinto C, Biloglav Z, Mulhollandd K, Campbelle H (2008) Epidemiology and etiology of childhood pneumonia. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 86: 408–416. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahmed S, Siddique AK, Iqbal A, Rahman FKMN, Islam MN, et al. (2010) Causes for Hospitalizations at Upazila Health Complexes in Bangladesh. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 28: 399–404. - PMC - PubMed
    1. National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates, Macro International (2009) Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007. Dhaka, Bangladesh and Calverton, Maryland, USA: National Institute of Population Research and Training, Mitra and Associates, and Macro International.
    1. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2010) Statistical Pocket Book 2010.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources