Viral respiratory infections diagnosed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction in pediatric patients

Syndromic diagnosis by multiplex nucleic acid amplification tests is the most practical approach to respiratory tract infections since the symptoms are rarely agent-specific. The aim of this study was to investigate the respiratory viruses in children admitted to a university hospital with acute respiratory tract infection during the last 8 years by a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. A total of 3162 respiratory samples collected from children between April 2011 and April 2018 tested by a multiplex real-time PCR assay. Two different commercial assays were used during the study period, "AusDiagnostics/Respiratory Pathogens 12 (AusDiagnostics)" used between April 2011 and December 2015, which changed to "Fast Track Diagnostics/Respiratory Pathogens 21 (Fast Track Diagnostics)" after January 2016 to cover more viruses. Nucleic acid extraction was done by EZ1 Advanced XL platform (QIAGEN). Respiratory pathogens detected in 1857 of the 3162 (58.7%) samples. The most prevalent viruses during the 8-year period were rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV; 36.2%), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV; 19%), and influenza virus A/B (14.7%). Rhinovirus was the main contributor to the RV/EV group as shown by the assay used during the 2016-2018 period. RV/EV and adenoviruses detected throughout the year. Influenza virus was most frequently detected during January to March when both RSV and metapneumovirus were also in circulation. The coinfection percentage was 10.2%. Rhinovirus was the most common virus in coinfections while RSV plus rhinovirus/enterovirus were the most frequent combination. RSV and metapneumovirus showed a similar seasonal distribution to the influenza virus, which made it necessary to use a virological diagnostic assay during the influenza season.