Affiliations: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Children's
Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China | Clinic Immunology Laboratory, Children's Hospital,
Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China | Department of Nephrology and Immunology medicine,
Children's Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
Note: [] Correspondence: Prof. Liu Enmei, Department of Respiratory
Medicine, Children's Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400014,
China. Tel.: +86 23 63632386; Fax: +86 23 63624479; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Bronchiolitis is one of the most common lower respiratory diseases
in infants. A correlation between the severity of bronchiolitis and a
co-infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as well as other viruses
has not yet been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to clarify the
impact of RSV co-infection with other viruses on the severity of bronchiolitis
and airway inflammation. One hundred and twelve hospitalized children with
clinical symptoms of bronchiolitis were prospectively enrolled in this study.
Nasopharyngeal aspirates were analyzed to identify RSV, human bocavirus, human
metapneumovirus and nine other respiratory viral pathogens. Inflammatory cell
counting and concentrations of cytokines/chemokines were also evaluated. The
severity of the disease was further determined on the basis of symptom score
and duration of hospitalization. Viral pathogens were detected in 84 samples
(75%). RSV was detected in 62 samples (55.36%), 31 of which also
possessed other viruses. No difference was found between children with
bronchiolitis that had RSV as the sole infecting viral agent and those that
were infected with RSV and other viruses with respect to the prevalence of
symptoms prior to admission to the hospital, the duration of hospitalization
and the diagnosis of severe bronchiolitis. The median cellularity,
concentrations of cytokines and cell counts of nasopharyngeal aspirates were
similar between the two groups of children. The severity of bronchiolitis is
not dependent on the co-infection of RSV with other respiratory viruses.
