Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of respiratory viruses in 4403 pediatric patients from multiple hospitals in Guangdong, China

Abstract

Background Acute respiratory infections (ARI) cause considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in children. Unfortunately, there are limited multi-center data on common viral respiratory infections in south China. Methods A total of 4403 nasal swabs were collected from children in 10 cities in Guangdong, China in 2019. Seven respiratory viruses, influenza A virus (IFA), influenza B virus (IFB), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenoviruses (ADV) and parainfluenza virus types 1–3 (PIV1, PIV2 and PIV3), were detected by direct immunofluorescence antibody assay. The personal information and clinical characteristics were recorded and analyzed. Results The results showed that at least one virus was detected in 1099 (24.96 %) samples. The detection rates of RSV, IFA, ADV, PIV3, PIV1 and PIV2 were 7.13 % (314/4403), 5.31 % (234/4403), 4.02 % (177/4403), 3.04 % (134/4403), 1.70 % (75/4403) and 1.16 % (51/4403), respectively. The detection rate of RSV was highest in 0–6-month-old children at 18.18 % (106/583), while the detection rate of IFA was highest in 12–18-year-old children at 20.48 % (17/83). The total detection rates in winter and spring were 35.67 % (219/614) and 34.56 % (403/1166), higher than those in summer, 17.41 % (284/1631), and autumn, 19.46 % (193/992). Conclusions RSV and IFA were the main respiratory viruses in children. With increasing age the detection rate of RSV decreased in children, but the trends for the detection rates of IFA and IFB were the opposite. This study provided the viral etiology and epidemiology of pediatric patients with ARI in Guangdong, China.

Molecular Epidemiology and Characteristics of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Guangzhou, China

“…RSV and IFA were most frequently detected during 2017-2021. These ndings are consistent with previous reports from China [34,37]. Detection rate of AdV was third highest in this study.…”

“…Between 2003-2008, GA2 was the predominant genotype in China which was replaced by NA1 genotype from 2008-2013 [9,26,48]. During this study, we found ON1 as predominant genotype con rming rapid spread of this genotype This nding is consistent with recent studies in China, reporting dominance of ON1 genotype [9,15,19,[24][25][26]34]. To date, ON1 genotype has been detected in 21 countries indicating widespread dissemination of this genotype.…”

“…As expected, we noticed highest detection rate of RSV among infants (< 6 month of age) (data not shown). It has been established previously that RSV infections are common in children less than 1 years of age and with increasing age, chances of getting RSV infections becomes low [5,28,34]. This indicates that RSV has high pathogenicity for children possibly due to immature immune system.…”

“…Seasonal distribution of respiratory viruses: We collected and analyzed data about seasonal distribution of respiratory viruses. To analyze seasonal distribution of RSV, we divided Guangdong province weather into four seasons: spring (March, April, and May), summer (June, July and August), autumn (September, October and November) and winter (December, January, and February) as described previously [34]. There were statistical associations between respiratory viruses (IFA, IFB, AdV, RSV, PIV1, PIV2 and PIV3) and months (p < 0.05 or p > 0.05).…”

Impact of COVID-19 on viral respiratory infection epidemiology in young children: A single-center analysis

“…Indication for sampling can be respiratory infection (respiratory panel) or SARS-CoV-2 screening (isolated SARS-CoV-2 PCR). The epidemiology and etiology of respiratory infections in this well-defined age category have been described in detail by the scientific community and were therefore selected ( 11 , 13 , 31 , 36 ). Ethical approval has been granted by the Educational-Support Committee of the Research Ethics Committee UZ/KU Leuven and the data was pseudonymized prior to analysis.…”