title: Picornavirus, the most common respiratory virus causing infection among patients of all ages hospitalized with acute respiratory illness.
abstract: We evaluated the prevalence of respiratory virus infection (RVI) in 403 illnesses of 364 persons hospitalized over a 2-year period with acute respiratory conditions using virus-specific reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assays in addition to cell culture and serology. RVIs were identified in >75% of children under 5 years of age and 25 to 37% of adults. The molecular assays doubled the number of infections identified; picornaviruses were the most frequent in patients of all ages, followed by respiratory syncytial virus and influenza viruses.
authors: Viral Respiratory Pathogens Research Unit and the Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. ratmar@bcm.edu
authors: Robert L
authors: RL
authors: Atmar
authors: Pedro A
authors: PA
authors: Piedra
authors: Shital M
authors: SM
authors: Patel
authors: Stephen B
authors: SB
authors: Greenberg
authors: Robert B
authors: RB
authors: Couch
authors: W Paul
authors: WP
authors: Glezen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010849:Picornaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012698:Serologic Tests; D014776:Virus Cultivation; D014780:Viruses; D055815:Young Adult