title: Prevalence of respiratory virus in symptomatic children in private physician office settings in five communities of the state of Veracruz, Mexico.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute respiratory tract infections are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. Many studies have described the frequency of viruses in hospitalized patients, but studies describing the prevalence of viruses in the community setting are limited, particularly in developing countries, where most of the deaths from serious respiratory diseases occur. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diversity of respiratory viruses in the community setting using molecular diagnostic tools, as well as the clinical characteristics of respiratory viral infections in the general pediatric practice in Mexico.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children with respiratory tract infections attending private pediatric practices during a 10-month period in five cities of the state of Veracruz were included. Nasal swabs were taken and processed by a multiplex detection kit for 15 respiratory viruses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  525 children were included from July 2011 to May 2012; 44% were female, mean age was 45 months. The 3 most frequent clinical diagnosis were: rhinopharyngitis 68%, pharyngitis 18%, and 3.3% influenza-like illness. 71.5% of the samples were positive for virus. The five most frequent pathogens were respiratory syncycitial virus in 18.3% of the children, rhinovirus in 17.5%, influenza A 9.1%, adenovirus 7.2%, and enterovirus 3.4%, although all 15 viruses were detected; there were viral coinfections in 14.1%, and 28.5% of the samples were negative.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A large proportion of respiratory infections in the community setting in Mexico was associated to viruses. Although testing for common respiratory pathogens in children with acute respiratory tract infections may lead to a better understanding of the role of viral pathogens in, and eventually to improvement in the management of, individual patients, additional prospective studies are required to study the need of routinely using such tests in general pediatric practices in resource-limited countries.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Investigación en Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Dr. Balmis 148, Colonia Doctores, CP 06726, Mexico, D.F., Mexico. rmwong@unam.mx.
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Wong-Chew
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 2001, Colonia Chamilpa, 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. maet@ibt.unam.mx.
authors.forename: Marco A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Espinoza
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 2001, Colonia Chamilpa, 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. btaboada@ibt.unam.mx.
authors.forename: Blanca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Taboada
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 2001, Colonia Chamilpa, 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. asef@ibt.unam.mx.
authors.forename: Fernando E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Aponte
authors.affiliation: Colegio de Pediatría del Estado de Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico. dra_maryarias@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: María A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Arias-Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Colegio de Pediatría del Estado de Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico. monge_jesus@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Monge-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Colegio de Pediatría del Estado de Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico. dr_pediatri@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Rubén
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Vázquez
authors.affiliation: Colegio de Pediatría del Estado de Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico. fideldh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Fidel
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Díaz-Hernández
authors.affiliation: Colegio de Pediatría del Estado de Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico. fmzv77@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zárate-Vidal
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Investigación en Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Dr. Balmis 148, Colonia Doctores, CP 06726, Mexico, D.F., Mexico. joseignaciosantos56@gmail.com.
authors.forename: José I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Santos-Preciado
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 2001, Colonia Chamilpa, 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. susana@ibt.unam.mx.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 2001, Colonia Chamilpa, 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. arias@ibt.unam.mx.
authors.forename: Carlos F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Arias
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D012621:Seasons; D014780:Viruses / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*