Hartiala M, Lahti E, Forsström V, Vuorinen T, Ruuskanen O, Peltola V. Characteristics of Hospitalized Rhinovirus-Associated Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children, Finland, 2003-2014.
Front Med (Lausanne) 2019;
6:235. [PMID:
31750306 PMCID:
PMC6842953 DOI:
10.3389/fmed.2019.00235]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2019] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Rhinovirus (RV) is the most common cause of respiratory tract infections in children but, still, the clinical characteristics of RV-associated pneumonia have not been sufficiently investigated.
Methods: We identified children and adolescents younger than 18 years of age treated for community-acquired pneumonia as inpatients at the Turku University Hospital from 2003 to 2014 and analyzed for RV by PCR of a respiratory tract specimen. We collected the data from medical records and compared RV-positive children with RV-negative children.
Results: Of the study population of 313 children with pneumonia who were studied for RV, it was detected in 82 (26%). RV-positive children were younger (median age 2.6 years, interquartile range [IQR] 1.1–4.6 vs. 3.5 years, IQR 1.7–8.3, p = 0.002) and they had more often a history of preterm birth (16% vs. 5%, adjusted odds ratio 2.89, 95% confidence interval 1.21–6.92, p = 0.017) than RV-negative children. RV-positive children had a higher median white blood cell count than RV-negative children at presentation with pneumonia. The signs, symptoms, and severity of pneumonia were mostly similar in RV-positive and RV-negative children.
Conclusions: RV was frequently detected in young children hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia. We identified premature birth as a factor associated with RV-positive pneumonia. The clinical features of pneumonia did not clearly differ between RV-positive and RV-negative children. Further studies are needed to clarify the clinical significance of detection of RV in children with pneumonia.
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