Prevalence and seasonal distribution of viral etiology of respiratory tract infections in inpatients and outpatients of the pediatric population: 10 year follow-up

Özet

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and seasonal distributionof respiratory viruses in pediatric patients. Nasopharyngeal swab specimens,demographic and clinical information were collected from 1240 pediatricpatients aged <18 years between 2006 and 2015 in Hacettepe UniversityChildren’s Hospital. Multiplex RT-PCR (multiplex reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction) was performed to detect viral pathogens. A totalof 1240 pediatric outpatients and inpatients who had been admitted to thehospital with symptoms of upper and lower respiratory tract infections (RTIs)were enrolled. Viruses were identified in 339 (27.3%) of cases, with theleading three viruses being respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, 74/339; 21.8%),human rhinovirus (62/339; 18.3%), and multiple viruses (56/339; 16.5%).Most of the patients were diagnosed with lower RTI (264/339; 77.8%) andantibiotics were administered to three quarters of positive patients (254/339;74.9%). With an overall viral agent detection rate of 27.3%, the findings ofthe present study suggest that other respiratory pathogens, whether viral orbacterial, may also lead to hospital visits due to respiratory tract symptomsin children.