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Comparative Study
. 2019 Aug 20;19(1):729.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-019-4385-5.

Comparison of viral and epidemiological profiles of hospitalized children with severe acute respiratory infection in Beijing and Shanghai, China

Yanjie Zhao  1   2 , Roujian Lu  2 , Jun Shen  3 , Zhengde Xie  4 , Gaoshan Liu  1 , Wenjie Tan  5   6
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of viral and epidemiological profiles of hospitalized children with severe acute respiratory infection in Beijing and Shanghai, China

Yanjie Zhao et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: No comparison data have been reported on viral and epidemiological profiles of hospitalized children with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in Beijing or Shanghai, China.

Methods: We collected 700 nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) from hospitalized children with SARI in Beijing (northern China) and Shanghai (southern China). Multiple respiratory viruses (including 15 common viruses) were screened by validated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or real-time reverse transcription-PCR assays and confirmed by sequencing. Demographic data and the distribution of viral infections were also examined.

Results: Of 700 samples, 547 (78.1%) tested positive for viral infections. The picornaviruses (PIC), which included rhinovirus (RV) and enterovirus (EV), were the most common (34.0%), followed by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (28.3%), human bocavirus (HBoV) (19.1%), adenovirus (ADV) (13.7%), human coronaviruses (HCoV) (10.7%), influenza A and B (8.9%), parainfluenza virus (PIV 1-3) (7.9%), and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) (5.0%). PIC (RV/EV) and RSV were the most prevalent etiological agents of SARI in both cities. The total and age-matched prevalence of RSV, HCoV, and hMPV among SARI children under 5 years old were significantly higher in Beijing than in Shanghai. Different age and seasonal distribution patterns of the viral infections were found between Beijing and Shanghai.

Conclusions: Viral infection was tested and shown to be the most prevalent etiological agent among children with SARI in either the Beijing or the Shanghai area, while showing different patterns of viral and epidemiological profiles. Our findings provide a better understanding of the roles of geographic location and climate in respiratory viral infections in hospitalized children with SARI.

Keywords: Beijing; Children; Epidemiological profile; Nasopharyngeal aspirates; Polymerase chain reaction; Severe acute respiratory infection; Shanghai; Virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Detection frequencies of respiratory viruses in Beijing and Shanghai according to matched age groups. We considered P <  0.05 to be significant (marked as an asterisk) for all analyses between two cities
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Seasonal distributions of respiratory viruses in Beijing and Shanghai. We considered P <  0.05 to be significant (marked as an asterisk) for all analyses between two cities
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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