[Infections with respiratory viruses]

Worldwide, acute infections of the respiratory tract are one of the main causes of disease, and the majority of these are due to viruses. As a consequence of the development of new methods, rapid laboratory diagnosis of virus-induced acute respiratory tract infections has greatly improved. An efficient immunoprophylaxis is still only available for influenza virus infections, and recent reports indicate that intravenous administration of immunoglobulins can protect against or reduce the severity of RS virus infections in children. At present, specific antiviral chemotherapy is only available for infections with influenza A virus and for RS-virus-infected children at high risk of a severe course of disease.