Respiratory syncytial virus and human rhinoviruses are the major causes of severe lower respiratory tract infections in Kuwait

Abstract

Respiratory infections are very common in Kuwait, yet little is known about the cause of severe lower respiratory tract infections. This study was designed to investigate the viral cause of lower respiratory tract infections using sensitive molecular methods. PCR was applied to investigate 10 respiratory viruses in respiratory samples from 1,014 patients aged between 3 days to 76 years with acute lower respiratory tract infections. Of the 1,014 patients with lower respiratory tract infections, 288 (28.4%) had a viral infection. One hundred fifty-five (53.8%) presented with bronchiolitis, 100 (43.7%) with pneumonia, and 33 (11.5%) with croup. One hundred six (36.8%) and 99 (34.4%) patients had evidence of respiratory syncytial virus and human rhinoviruses infections, respectively. Adenoviruses were detected in 44 (15.2%) patients, while influenza A virus in 21 (7.3%) patients. The majority of respiratory syncytial virus infections (84%) were among patients aged <1 year. Similarly, of the 99 patients infected by human rhinoviruses, 50 (50.5%) were also among this age group. In contrast, most of influenza A virus infections, 12 of 21 (57.1%), were among patients aged over 16 years. Parainfluenza virus-2 and human coronaviruses were not detected in any of the patients' samples. Over the 3-year period, most of the hospitalized patients were seen during the autumn and winter months from October through March. These data show that respiratory syncytial virus and human rhinoviruses may be the major causes of lower respiratory tract infections in children admitted to hospital in Kuwait.

Children under five years of age in senegal: A group highly exposed to respiratory viruses infections

“…This rate is relatively high compared to those obtained in several other studies [4,18,27,31,32] even if others studies had concluded that influenza viruses are more likely to be detected in under 5-year-old patients, with an incidence of 9.4-9.6% in the last 2 years [33][34][35]. Moreover, Van Woensel, et al [36] argued that infants and young children have a 12-fold increased risk of admission to hospital for respiratory tract infection caused by influenza virus compared with children aged 5-17 years.…”

Viral and bacterial infection among hospitalized-suspected influenza A/H5N1 patients in Indonesia, 2008-2009

“…This ratio is parallel with other study reported in developing country. 7 In the other hand the distribution based on age was not alike. Previous studies 3,7,16 reported that the most frequent cases with pneumonia were children less than 5 years old while in the present study, 53% of the total cases were adult.…”

“…7 In the other hand the distribution based on age was not alike. Previous studies 3,7,16 reported that the most frequent cases with pneumonia were children less than 5 years old while in the present study, 53% of the total cases were adult. The explanation to this is the enrolled patients in the present study were patient that was suspected for H5N1 infection and shows rapid progress of severe acute respiratory illness.…”

“…Viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinoviruses, adenoviruses, parainfluenza virus type 1, 2, 3, influenza virus type A and B, and enterovirus are identified to be the common cause of acute respiratory infection. 3,6,7 In addition, some Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) is the prominent cause of morbidity and hospitalization throughout the world, especially in people at high risk such as infants, children and elderly. It also the leading cause of death in children in developing country.…”

Genetic analysis of the VP4/VP2 coding region in human rhinovirus species C in patients with acute respiratory infection in Japan

“…HRVs were thought previously to be associated mainly with the common cold, leading to mild respiratory manifestations (Gern, 2009;Turner & Couch, 2007). However, recent studies have suggested that HRVs are major agents of the induction of wheezing and exacerbation of asthma (Fujitsuka et al, 2011;Khadadah et al, 2010). In the present study, HRV-C strains were detected in patients with various ARIs such as URI and bronchitis.…”