Related Experiment Videos
[Etiology of acute respiratory infections in 87 hospitalized children]
R E Esteban1, A M Jiménez, A L Orozco
1Servicios de Pediatría, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
Insights
This study evaluated viral culture and serology for diagnosing pediatric acute respiratory infections. Both methods are useful, with serology showing increased effectiveness with age and disease severity.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology
- Clinical Diagnostics
Background:
- Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are a significant cause of childhood morbidity.
- Accurate etiologic diagnosis is crucial for effective management of ARIs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the effectiveness of viral culture and serology in identifying the causes of ARIs in children.
- To evaluate these microbiologic methods for etiological studies in pediatric ARI cases.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study of 87 children under 14 years with ARI diagnoses.
- Collection of nasopharyngeal aspirates for viral culture.
- Serologic studies using complement fixation tests in a subset of patients.
Main Results:
- An etiologic agent was identified in 62% of patients, with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus (ADV), and Mycoplasma pneumoniae being most common.
- Viral culture detected agents in 37% of cases, while serology was positive in 60% of studied patients.
- Serology was more effective for pneumonia (76%), and viral culture for upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) (63%).
Conclusions:
- Viral culture and serology are valuable tools for detecting etiologic agents in pediatric ARIs.
- Serology's effectiveness is enhanced by patient age and clinical diagnosis severity.
- Both methods offer limited clinical utility individually but contribute to etiological understanding.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two microbiologic methods: viral culture and serology for the etiologic study of acute respiratory infections in children under 14 years of age admitted to our hospital.
Patients:
From January 1992 to December 1993, a prospective study was carried out in 87 patients with a mean age of two years with the following diagnosis: upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) 19, laryngitis 3, bronchitis 18, bronchiolitis 18, and pneumonia 29.
Method:
Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected for virologic culture on cell monolayers in 87 patients. Serologic studies by complement fixation test were carried out in 42 patients older than six months.
Results:
The etiologic agent was detected in 54 (62%) of the 87 patients, being the most frequent the respiratory sincitial virus (VRS) with 18 cases (20%), followed by adenovirus (ADV) in 17 (19%) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in 9 cases (11%). Viral culture was positive in 32 (37%), being ADV in 14 (41%), and RSV in 9 (26%). Significative serologic studies were obtained in 25 (60%) of the 42 studied patients, with VRS in 9 (32%) and M. pneumoniae in 9 (32%). Concerning clinical diagnosis, the major effectiveness corresponded to serology in pneumonia (76%), and to viral culture in URTI (63%).
Conclusion:
Viral culture and serology are useful methods for the detection of etiologic agents in acute respiratory infections. The serology effectiveness increases with age (p < 0.01) and the severity of the clinical diagnosis. Both methods have limited usefulness from clinical point of view.