title: Respiratory viral pathogens among Singapore military servicemen 2009-2012: epidemiology and clinical characteristics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies have comprehensively described tropical respiratory disease surveillance in military populations. There is also a lack of studies comparing clinical characteristics of the non-influenza pathogens with influenza and amongst themselves.
  
  
  METHODS
  From May 2009 through October 2012, 7733 consenting cases of febrile respiratory illness (FRI) (temperature [greater than or equal to]37.5 degrees C with cough or sorethroat) and controls in the Singapore military had clinical data and nasal washes collected prospectively. Nasal washes underwent multiplex PCR, and the analysis was limited to viral mono-infections.
  
  
  RESULTS
  49% of cases tested positive for at least one virus, of whom 10% had multiple infections. 53% of the FRI cases fulfilled the definition of influenza-like illness (ILI), of whom 52% were positive for at least one virus. The most frequent etiologies for mono-infections among FRI cases were Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 (13%), Influenza B (13%) and coxsackevirus (9%). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of ILI for influenza among FRI cases were 72%, 48%, 40% and 69% respectively. On logistic regression, there were marked differences in the prevalence of different symptoms and signs between viruses with fever more prevalent amongst influenza and adenovirus infections than other viruses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are multiple viral etiologies for FRI and ILI with differing clinical symptoms in the Singapore military. Influenza and coxsackevirus were the most common etiology for FRI, while influenza and adenoviruses displayed the most febrile symptoms. Further studies should explore these differences and possible interventions.
authors.forename: Xin Quan
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Xiahong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Biodefence Centre, Ministry of Defence, Singapore, Singapore. vernonljm@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Vernon J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jin Phang
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.forename: Boon Huan
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Wee Hong Victor
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Sock Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Mark I-Cheng
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Alex Richard
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Cook
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines
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