| Title | Respiratory picornaviruses and respiratory syncytial virus as causative agents of acute expiratory wheezing in children. | ||
| Author | Jartti, Tuomas; Lehtinen, Pasi; Vuorinen, Tytti; Osterback, Riika; van den Hoogen, Bernadette; Osterhaus, Albert D M E; Ruuskanen, Olli | ||
| Journal | Emerg Infect Dis | Publication Year/Month | 2004-Jun |
| PMID | 15207063 | PMCID | PMC3323183 |
| Affiliation | 1.Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland. toumas.jartii@hus.fi. | ||
We studied the viral etiology of acute expiratory wheezing (bronchiolitis, acute asthma) in 293 hospitalized children in a 2-year prospective study in Finland. A potential causative viral agent was detected in 88% of the cases. Eleven different viruses were represented. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (27%), enteroviruses (25%), rhinovirus (24%), and nontypable rhino/enterovirus (16%) were found most frequently. In infants, RSV was found in 54% and respiratory picornaviruses (rhinovirus and enteroviruses) in 42% of the cases. In older children, respiratory picornaviruses dominated (65% of children ages 1-2 years and 82% of children ages > or =3 years). Human metapneumovirus was detected in 4% of all children and in 11% of infants. To prevent and treat acute expiratory wheezing illnesses in children, efforts should be focused on RSV, enterovirus, and rhinovirus infections.