BackgroundViral infections play a significant role in causing acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and exacerbations of chronic diseases. Acute respiratory infections are now the leading cause of mortality in children worldwide, especially in developing countries. Recently, human rhinovirus (HRV) infection has been emerged as an important cause of pneumonia and asthma exacerbation.ObjectivesTo determine the role of several viral agents principally, respiratory syncytial virus, and HRV in children with ARIs and their relationship with asthma exacerbation and pneumonia.MethodsBetween October 2011 and March 2014, 432 nasopharyngeal samples of children <15 years of age with ARI hospitalized at a referral hospital for respiratory diseases were tested for the presence of respiratory viruses using a multiplex RT-qPCR. Clinical, epidemiological, and demographic data were collected and associated with symptomatology and viral infections.ResultsViral infections were detected in at least 59·7% of the enrolled patients, with HRV (26·6%) being the most frequently detected. HRV infections were associated with clinical features of asthma and difficulty in breathing such as wheezing (P = 0·0003), supraesternal (P = 0·046), and xiphoid retraction (P = 0·030). HRV subtype C (HRV-C) infections were associated with asthma (P = 0·02).ConclusionsHuman rhinovirus was the virus most commonly detected in pediatric patients with ARI. There is also an association of HRV-C infection with asthma exacerbation, emphasizing the relevance of this virus in severe pediatric respiratory disease.

BackgroundHuman enterovirus D68 (EV‐D68) recently caused an increase in mild‐to‐severe pediatric respiratory cases in North America and some European countries. Even though few of these children presented with acute paralytic disease, direct causal relationship cannot yet be assumed.ObjectivesThe purposes of this report were to describe the clinical findings of an outbreak of EV‐D68 infection in Mexico City and identify the genetic relationship with previously reported strains.Patients/MethodsBetween September and December 2014, 126 nasopharyngeal samples (NPS) of hospitalized children <15 years of age with ARI were tested for the presence of respiratory viruses using a multiplex RT‐qPCR and EV‐D68‐specific RT‐qPCR. Clinical, epidemiological, and demographic data were collected and associated with symptomatology and viral infections. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using VP1 region.ResultsEnterovirus/rhinovirus infection was detected in 40 patients (31·7%), of which 24 patients were EV‐D68‐positive. EV‐D68 infection prevailed over September and October 2014 and was associated with neutrophilia and lymphopenia, and patients were more likely to develop hypoxemia. Phylogenetic analyses showed that Mexican EV‐D68 belongs to the new B1 clade.ConclusionsThis is the first EV‐D68 outbreak described in Mexico and occurred few weeks after the United States reported similar infections. Although EV‐D68 belongs to new B1 clade, no neurological affection was observed.

BackgroundAcute asthma exacerbations and pneumonia are important causes of morbidity and mortality in children and may coexist in the same children, although symptom overlap may lead to difficulties in diagnosis. Microbial and viral diversity and differential abundance of either may play an important role in infection susceptibility and the development of acute and chronic respiratory diseases.ObjectivesTo describe the virome and bacteriome present in the upper respiratory tract of hospitalized children with a clinical diagnosis of asthma and pneumonia during an acute exacerbation and an acute respiratory illness ARI episode respectively.MethodsDuring the winter seasons of 2013–2014 and 2014–2015, 134 nasopharyngeal swabs samples of children <15 years of age with ARI hospitalized at a referral hospital for respiratory diseases were selected based on clinical diagnosis of asthma or pneumonia. The virome and bacteriome were characterized using Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and in-house bioinformatics analysis pipeline.ResultsThe Asthma group was represented mainly by RV-C, BoV-1 and RSV-B and the pneumonia group by Bacteriophage EJ-1 and TTMV. TTV was found in both groups with a similar amount of reads. About bacterial composition Moraxella catarrhalis, Propionibacterium acnes and Acinetobacter were present in asthma and Veillonella parvula and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in pneumonia. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae were mostly found with both asthma and pneumonia.ConclusionsOur results show a complex viral and bacterial composition in asthma and pneumonia groups with a strong association of RV-C presence in asthmatic children. We observed Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae concurrently in both groups.

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