title: Severity of viral coinfection in hospitalized infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the severity of single respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections with that of coinfections.
  
  
  METHODS
  A historical cohort was studied, including hospitalized infants with acute RSV infection. Nasopharyngeal aspirate samples were collected from all patients to detect eight respiratory viruses using molecular biology techniques. The following outcomes were analyzed: duration of hospitalization and of oxygen therapy, intensive care unit admission and need of mechanical ventilation. Results were adjusted for confounding factors (prematurity, age and breastfeeding).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A hundred and seventy six infants with bronchiolitis and/or pneumonia were included in the study. Their median age was 4.5 months. A hundred and twenty one had single RSV infection and 55 had coinfections (24 RSV + adenovirus, 16 RSV + human metapneumovirus and 15 other less frequent viral associations). The four severity outcomes under study were similar in the group with single RSV infection and in the coinfection groups, independently of what virus was associated with RSV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Virus coinfections do not seem to affect the prognosis of hospitalized infants with acute RSV infection.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitário, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Paulis
authors.forename: Alfredo Elias
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Gilio
authors.forename: Alexandre Archanjo
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ferraro
authors.forename: Angela Esposito
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ferronato
authors.forename: Patrícia Rossi
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: do Sacramento
authors.forename: Viviane Fongaro
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Botosso
authors.forename: Danielle Bruna Leal de
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Juliana Cristina
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Marinheiro
authors.forename: Charlotte Marianna
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hársi
authors.forename: Edison Luiz
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Durigon
authors.forename: Sandra Elisabete
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Vieira
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000260:Adenoviruses, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001988:Bronchiolitis / Q000821:virology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D060085:Coinfection / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D029121:Metapneumovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000821:virology*; D011379:Prognosis; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric