Epidemiology of respiratory viral infection using multiplex rt-PCR in Cheonan, Korea (2006-2010)

Multiplex RT-PCR was used to detect respiratory viruses in 5,318 clinical samples referred to the laboratory of a tertiary teaching hospital from December 2006 to November 2010. The acquired data were analyzed with respect to types, ratio, and co-infection trends of infected respiratory viruses. Trends in respiratory viral infection according to sex, age, and period of infection were also analyzed. Of the 5,318 submitted clinical samples, 3,350 (63.0%) specimens were positive for at least one respiratory virus. The infection rates were 15.8% for human rhinovirus, 14.4% for human respiratory syncytial virus A, 9.7% for human respiratory syncytial virus B, 10.1% for human adenovirus, 5.4% for influenza A virus, 1.7% for influenza B virus, 4.7% for human metapneumovirus, 2.3% for human coronavirus OC43, 1.9% for human coronavirus 229E/NL63, 3.7% for human parainfluenza virus (HPIV)-1, 1.1% for HPIV-2, and 5.3% for HPIV-3. The co-infection analysis showed 17.1% of double infections and 1.8% of triple infections. The median age of virus-positive patients was 1.3 years, and 91.5% of virus-positive patients were under 10 years old. Human respiratory syncytial virus was the most common virus in children under 5 years of age, and the influenza A virus was the most prevalent virus in children over 5 years of age. These results help in elucidating the tendency of respiratory viral infections.