Rhinoviruses (RVs) constitute a substantial public health burden. To evaluate their abundance
and genetic diversity in pediatric patients, RV RNA in respiratory samples was assessed using
real-time RT-PCR and partial nucleic acid sequencing of viral genomes. Additionally, clinical data
were retrieved from patient charts to determine the clinical significance of pediatric RV infections.
In total, the respiratory specimens of 776 patients (<18 years), collected from 2013 to 2017, were
analyzed. Infections occurred throughout the entire year, with peaks occurring in fall and winter,
and showed remarkably high intra- and interseasonal diversity for RV genotypes. RV species were
detected in the following frequencies: 49.1% RV-A, 5.9% RV-B, and 43.6% RV-C. RV-C was found to be
more frequently associated with asthma (p = 0.04) and bronchiolitis (p < 0.001), while RV-A was more
frequently associated with fever (p = 0.001) and pneumonia (p = 0.002). Additionally, 35.3% of the
patients had co-infections with other pathogens, which were associated with a longer hospital stay
(p < 0.001), need for ventilation (p < 0.001), and pneumonia (p < 0.001). Taken together, this
study shows pronounced RV genetic diversity in pediatric patients and indicates differences in
RV-associated pathologies, as well as an important role for co-infections.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:89016 |
| Date | 15 January 2024 |
| Creators | Neugebauer, Franziska, Bergs, Sandra, Liebert, Uwe Gerd, Hönemann, Mario |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 1829 |
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