Risk Factors for Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Admission in Children with Human Metapneumovirus Infections.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Infectious Diseases
• Virology
• Critical Care Medicine

Background:

• Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a common cause of pediatric respiratory infections.
• While often mild, hMPV can lead to severe illness, hospitalization, and mortality in children.
• Limited data exist on the characteristics and outcomes of pediatric hospitalizations due to hMPV.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the incidence and clinical features of pediatric hospitalizations caused by hMPV.
• To identify risk factors associated with severe hMPV infection requiring pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of pediatric patients (≤18 years) hospitalized with hMPV infection between 2014 and 2019.
• Comparison of patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes between general ward and PICU admissions.

Main Results:

• 266 pediatric patients were hospitalized for hMPV infection.
• 10.5% of patients required PICU admission, with a mortality rate of 17.9% among these cases.
• Underlying conditions, particularly cardiologic and genetic diseases, were significantly more prevalent in PICU patients.

Conclusions:

• hMPV can cause severe infections necessitating PICU admission and is associated with fatal outcomes, especially in children with comorbidities.
• Further research is needed to understand the full disease burden of hMPV in pediatric populations and those admitted to the PICU.