Related Experiment Videos
Respiratory viral infections in hospitalized children: implications for infection control
Richard Lichenstein1, James C King, Judith Lovchik
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland Medical Systems, Baltimore 21201, USA.
Insights
Respiratory viruses are often overlooked in hospitalized children across various conditions. Increased awareness can improve infection control and reduce hospital-acquired viral infections.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Hospital Epidemiology
Background:
- Respiratory viral infections are a significant concern in hospitalized children.
- Viral etiology is often not considered in various pediatric clinical syndromes, potentially impacting infection control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the rates of virus identification in hospitalized children across a spectrum of respiratory and non-specific illnesses.
- To inform infection-control practices by highlighting the prevalence of viral pathogens.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study of 243 children (aged <1 to 19 years) hospitalized between October 1993 and April 1994.
- Data collected included admission diagnoses (asthma, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, fever, apnea, croup, respiratory distress), age, and virus identification results.
- Conducted as part of a hospital infection-control protocol at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Main Results:
- A virus was identified in 71 (29%) of the children studied.
- Virus identification rates varied by diagnosis: 15% for asthma, 33% for pneumonia, 57% for bronchiolitis, 32% for fever, 44% for apnea, 67% for croup, and 25% for respiratory distress.
- Bronchiolitis and croup showed the highest rates of identified viral infections.
Conclusions:
- Clinicians should consider respiratory viruses in a broader range of pediatric diagnoses.
- Heightened awareness of viral etiologies can aid in reducing nosocomial (hospital-acquired) respiratory viral infections.
- This study underscores the importance of viral diagnostics in pediatric inpatient settings.
Background:
Identification of children with respiratory viral infections may augment infection-control practices on inpatient units. There are clinical syndromes leading to morbidity among hospitalized children, however, in which a viral etiology of the illness might not be considered.
Methods:
Virus infection rates among 243 children aged <1 to 19 years hospitalized between October 1993 and April 1994 with asthma, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, fever, apnea, croup, or respiratory distress were evaluated as part of a University of Maryland Medical Center infection-control protocol. Anonymous data collected included admission diagnoses, age, and virus-identification result.
Results:
Seventy-one children (29%) had a virus identified, including 19 of 123 (15%) with asthma, 4 of 12 (33%) with pneumonia, 27 of 47 (57%) with bronchiolitis, 13 of 41 (32%) with fever, 4 of 9 (44%) with apnea, 2 of 3 (67%) with croup, and 2 of 8 (25%) with unspecified respiratory distress.
Conclusion:
This study reinforces the concept that clinicians should consider respiratory viruses for a broad range of diagnoses. This heightened awareness may help reduce the number of nosocomial respiratory viral infections.