RSV ASSOCIATED DISEASE IN HOSPITALIZED CHILDREN IN SOUTHEAST BRAZIL: HIGHER FREQUENCY IN OLDER CHILDREN THAN IN INFANTS

Respiratory tract infection can lead to diseases such as pneumonia, bronchospasm, bronchiolitis and pleural effusion, and consequently to hospitalization. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of viruses in hospitalized children with respiratory tract infection and to assess the correlation between lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) and the viruses studied. We screened children from 0 to 6 years of age with respiratory tract infection. From May 2004 to September 2005, a total of 272 nasopharyngeal aspirate samples were collected from hospitalized children in Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil, and stored with trizol at –80°C until testing by RT-PCR. The distribution of LRTI in the study population was: 49.63% (135/272) pneumonia, 23.18% (63/272) bronchospasm, 16.17% (44/272) bronchiolitis, and 11.02% (30/272) pleural effusion. A viral infection was found in 54.41% (148/272) of the samples, as follows: in 79 (29%) RSV, in 63 (23%) HRV, in 14 (5.14%) PIV3, in 9 (5%) HMPV, in 8 (2.9%) PIV1, in 4 (1.4%) FLUB, in 3 (1.1%) FLUA and 1 (0.4%) PIV2. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between viral infection and bronchiolitis (43/44 cases: 97.8%; p≤0.001) and RSV infection and bronchiolitis (30/44 cases: 68.2%; p≤0.001). Finally, this study has confirmed that not only is RSV the most important virus in association with bronchilitis in infants, but also can be frequently detected in children between 2 and 5 years of age hospitalized for ARI in this region. In addition, HRV was frequently detected in association with ARI requiring hospitalization. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17525/vrrjournal.v14i1.26