title: Clinical relevance of rhinovirus infections among adult hospitalized patients.
abstract: Human rhinovirus (HRV) is an emerging viral pathogen.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To characterize a group of patients admitted due to infection by this agent in a general hospital in Chile.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cases were identified by RT-PCR for 1 year through active surveillance of patients admitted with severe respiratory illness. Diagnosis was not available during hospitalization. Thirty-two cases were identified, 90% were ≥60 years old or had co-morbid conditions. Human rhinovirus-related admissions represented 23.7% of hospitalization due to severe acute respiratory infections among adults and ranked second to influenza (37.8%). Patients presented with pneumonia (68.8%), decompensated chronic lung conditions (21.9%), heart failure or influenza-like illness (6.3% each). Admission to intensive or intermediate care units was required by 31.2% and in-hospital mortality reached 12.5%. A CURB-65 score ≥3 was significantly associated to in-hospital mortality (p<0.05). Most patients received antibiotics (90%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Human rhinovirus infections in elderly patients with co-morbid conditions are associated with hospitalizations, requiring critical or semi-critical antibiotics use. A high CURB-65 score was associated to in-hospital mortality.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Infectología, Hospital Militar de Santiago, Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: albertofica@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fica
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Infectología, Hospital Militar de Santiago, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Jeannette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dabanch
authors.affiliation: Sección Virus Respiratorios y Exantemáticos, SubDepartamento de Enfermedades Virales, Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Winston
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Infectología, Hospital Militar de Santiago, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bustos
authors.affiliation: Departamento Laboratorio Clínico, Hospital Militar de Santiago, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Ita
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Carvajal
authors.affiliation: Departamento Laboratorio Clínico, Hospital Militar de Santiago, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ceroni
authors.affiliation: Departamento Laboratorio Clínico, Hospital Militar de Santiago, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Vjera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Triantafilo
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Imagenología, Hospital Militar de Santiago, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: Sección Virus Respiratorios y Exantemáticos, SubDepartamento de Enfermedades Virales, Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fasce
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology*; D012229:Rhinovirus; D012621:Seasons; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: Adult; Hospitalization; Respiratory tract infections; Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Rhinovirus; Viral pneumonia