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. 2019 Jul;94(3):260-267.
doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2019.01.008. Epub 2019 Jan 17.

Epidemiology of human respiratory viruses in children with acute respiratory tract infection in a 3-year hospital-based survey in Northern Italy

Flora De Conto  1 , Francesca Conversano  2 , Maria Cristina Medici  2 , Francesca Ferraglia  2 , Federica Pinardi  2 , Maria Cristina Arcangeletti  2 , Carlo Chezzi  2 , Adriana Calderaro  2
Affiliations

Epidemiology of human respiratory viruses in children with acute respiratory tract infection in a 3-year hospital-based survey in Northern Italy

Flora De Conto et al. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2019 Jul.

Abstract

Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children. The viral etiology of ARTIs was investigated over 3 years (October 2012-September 2015) in 2575 children in Parma, Italy, using indirect immunofluorescent staining of respiratory samples for viral antigens, cell culture, and molecular assays. Respiratory viruses were detected in 1299 cases (50.44%); 1037 (79.83%) were single infections and 262 (20.17%) mixed infections. The highest infection incidence was in children aged >6 months to ≤3 years (57.36%). Human respiratory syncytial virus (27.12%) and human adenovirus (23.58%) were the most common viruses identified. The virus detection rate decreased significantly between the first and third epidemic season (53.9% vs. 43.05%, P < 0.0001). The simultaneous use of different diagnostic tools allowed us to identify a putative viral etiology in half the children examined and to provide an estimate of the epidemiology and seasonality of respiratory viruses associated with ARTIs.

Keywords: Acute respiratory tract infections; Epidemiology; Laboratory diagnosis; Molecular assays; Respiratory viruses; Virus isolation in cell culture.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Seasonality of human respiratory viruses detected in 1408 samples belonging to children with ARTIs in Northern Italy (October 2012–September 2015).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Monthly infection rates of human respiratory viruses detected in 1408 samples belonging to children with ARTIs in Northern Italy (October 2012–September 2015): (A) HRSV; (B) HADV; (C) HCOV; (D) HBOV; (E) IV; (F) HPIV; (G) HMPV; (H) HEV.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
(A) Age and (B) virus distribution in different age groups of 1295 children with ARTIs in Northern Italy (October 2012–September 2015).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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