Introduction: Influenza A H1N1 2009 is associated with a high morbidity rate among children around the world, including Brazil. This survey was conducted on samples of symptomatic children (≤ 12 years) to investigate the influenza virus as the etiological agent of respiratory infections in a day care school in a health facility during the first and second pandemic wave of H1N1 (2009)(2010) in São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Influenza infections were determined by real-time PCR in 34% (47/137) of children with a median age of 5 years (8 months -12 years), from June to October 2009 and in 16% (14/85) of those with median age of 6 years (1-12 years), from March to November 2010. Results: In general, most positive cases (64%) occurred in children aged 5-12 years, this age group was significantly the most affected (39.8%, p = 0.001, OR = 8.3, CI 95% 1.9-36.9). Wheezing was reported by 31% (19/61) and dyspnea by 23% (14/61) of the studied patients. An outbreak of influenza H1N1 with an attack rate of 35.7% among children (median age 6 years) was documented in April 2010, before the vaccination campaign against the pandemic virus was extended for children up to 5 years in Brazil. Conclusions: Therefore, the study reinforces the recommendation to immunize school children to reduce the incidence of the disease.
This study assessed the presence of influenza virus among young children and the coverage of vaccination from 2010 to 2012 in São Paulo, Brazil. Our results demonstrated a lower rate of influenza detection and a predominance of influenza B. A decrease of coverage vaccination through the surveillance periods was observed.
Introdução: O metapneumovírus humano (MPVh) causa infecções respiratórias em crianças, adultos e idosos imunodeprimidos. O diagnóstico é realizado por imunofluorescência (IF) ou biologia molecular. Objetivo: Detectar o MPVh em amostras clínicas pelos métodos de reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR) e imunofluorescência direta (IFD). Resultados: Das 202 amostras, a positividade foi de 2% e 4% para IFD e RT-PCR, respectivamente. Sensibilidade e especificidade da IFD foram de 50% e 100%, respectivamente, considerando o PCR com transcrição reversa (RT-PCR) como padrão-ouro. Conclusão: O estudo indica a RT-PCR como o melhor método para a identificação de MPVh em amostras clínicas respiratórias e mostra a importância da padronização do teste para inclusão na rotina laboratorial. resumo unitermos Metapneumovírus humano Infecções respiratórias Diagnóstico molecular de vírus
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.