BackgroundHuman metapneumovirus (HMPV) has an important etiological role in acute lower respiratory infections in children under five years. Our objectives were to estimate the relative contribution of HMPV to hospitalization in children with acute respiratory infection, to define the clinical and epidemiological features of HMPV single and multiple infections, and to compare HMPV infections with respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), rhinovirus (HRV), adenovirus and human bocavirus infections in the same population.Methods and findingsA prospective study performed on all children less than 14 years of age with a respiratory tract disease admitted to a secondary hospital between September 2005- June 2014. Clinical characteristics of patients were analyzed. Nasopharyngeal aspirate was taken at admission for viral study with polymerase chain reaction for 16 respiratory viruses.A total of 3,906 children were included. At least one respiratory virus was detected in 75.2% of them. The most common identified virus was HRSV, followed by HRV. HMPV was detected in 214 cases (5.5%); 133 (62%) were single infections and the remaining were detected in coinfection with other viruses. 90.7% cases were detected between February and May. Children’s mean age was 13.83 ± 18 months. Fever was frequent (69%), and bronchiolitis (27%), and recurrent wheezing (63%) were the main clinical diagnosis. Hypoxia was present in 65% of the patients and 47% of them had an infiltrate in X-ray. Only 6 (2.8%) children were admitted to the intensive care unit. Only the duration of the hospitalization was different, being longer in the coinfections group (p <0.05). There were many differences in seasonality and clinical characteristics between HMPV and other respiratory viruses being more similar to HRSV.ConclusionsHMPV infections accounted for 5.5% of total viral infections in hospitalized children. The clinical characteristics were similar to HRSV infections, but seasonality and clinical data were different from other viral infections.

Highlights Children with COVID 19 disease are less symptomatic but they can be potential agents of transmission. Most children with symptoms from COVID 19 disease (cough, fever, respiratory difficulties) show bnormalities in CXR. Findings in CXR are non-specific and superimpose on other viral pneumonias. Peripheral distribution of lung abnormalities is not a distinctive feature in paediatric population. CXR have a role in the management of the disease in children.

publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active. Arch Bronconeumol. 2016;52(5):269-273 w w w . a r c h b r o n c o n e u m o l . o r g a b s t r a c t Respiratory viral infections, particularly respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and rhinovirus, are the most importance risk factors for the onset of wheezing in infants and small children. Bronchiolitis is the most common acute respiratory infection in children under 1 year of age, and the most common cause of hospitalization in this age group. RSV accounts for approximately 70% of all these cases, followed by rhinovirus, adenovirus, metapneumovirus and bocavirus. The association between bronchiolitis caused by RSV and the development of recurrent wheezing and/or asthma was first described more than 40 years ago, but it is still unclear whether bronchiolitis causes chronic respiratory symptoms, or if it is a marker for children with a genetic predisposition for developing asthma in the medium or long term. In any case, sufficient evidence is available to corroborate the existence of this association, which is particularly strong when the causative agent of bronchiolitis is rhinovirus.The pathogenic role of respiratory viruses as triggers for exacerbations in asthmatic patients has not been fully characterized. However, it is clear that respiratory viruses, and in particular rhinovirus, are the most common causes of exacerbation in children, and some type of respiratory virus has been identified in over 90% of children hospitalized for an episode of wheezing. Changes in the immune response to viral infections in genetically predisposed individuals are very likely to be the main factors involved in the association between viral infection and asthma. Asma y virus en el niñoPalabras clave: Bronquiolitis Asma Virus respiratorios Virus respiratorio sincitial Rinovirus Bocavirus humano Metapneumovirus humanor e s u m e n Las infecciones por virus respiratorios, especialmente virus respiratorio sincitial (VRS) y rinovirus, suponen el mayor factor de riesgo para la aparición de episodios de sibilancias en lactantes y niños pequeños. La bronquiolitis es la infección respiratoria aguda de vías respiratorias inferiores más común en menores de un año y constituye la causa más frecuente de hospitalización en este grupo de edad. El VRS causa aproximadamente el 70% de todas ellas, seguido por rinovirus, adenovirus, metapneumovirus o bocavirus. La asociación entre bronquiolitis por VRS y desarrollo de sibilancias recurrentes y/o asma ha sido descrita hace más de 4 décadas, aunque en la actualidad se desconoce con exactitud si la bronquiolitis es la causa de los síntomas respiratorios crónicos o si, más bien, es un marcador que señala a los niños con predisposición genética a desarrollar asma a medio o largo plazo. En cualquier caso...

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