title: Establishing a surveillance network for severe lower respiratory tract infections in Korean infants and young children.
abstract: To reduce morbidity and mortality through integrated case management, a pilot study to detect respiratory viruses in patients with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) was designed as part of a nationwide surveillance for this disease in Korea. The study population consisted of hospitalized patients under the age of 5 years with bronchiolitis, pneumonia, croup, or acute respiratory distress syndrome. A prospective 6-month study was performed. Two hundred and ninety-seven nasopharyngeal secretions were collected and multiplex reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR)/polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were performed to detect respiratory viruses. If there were any positive RT-PCR/PCR results, viral cultures were proceeded for confirmation. Respiratory viruses were identified in 49.6% of 296 patients. The detection rates were as follows: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was the most commonly detected in 52.7% (87/165), human metapneumovirus (hMPV) in 15.8%, human corona virus (hCoV) in 5.5%, adenovirus in 9.7%, human bocavirus (hBoV) in 5.5%, parainfluenza virus (PIV) in 3.6%, rhinovirus (RV) in 4.2%, and the influenza virus in 3% of the patients with ALRIs. The consistent rate of positive results between RT-PCR and viral culture was 92% (105/114). Using our methods to detect viral causes seemed to be acceptable for the national surveillance of severe acute respiratory infections in infants and children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Children's Hospital, 250 Seongsanno, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, South Korea.
authors.forename: J-K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: J-H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H-S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H-M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology; D014780:Viruses / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification