Absence of back to school peaks in human rhinovirus detections and respiratory symptoms in a cohort of children with asthma.
Much of what is known about the seasonality of human rhinovirus (hRV) infections has been learned from the study of acute asthma exacerbations presenting to emergency care, including those among children at the start of the school term. Much less is known about the patterns of hRVs in the community. In this study, viruses and day-to-day symptoms of asthma and colds were monitored twice weekly in 67 children with asthma aged 5-12 years, over a 15 month period in Sydney, Australia. Overall hRV was detected in 314/1232 (25.5%) of nasal wash samples and 142/1231 (11.5%) of exhaled breath samples; of these, 231 and 24 respectively were genotyped. HRVs were detected with similar prevalence rate throughout the year, including no peak in hRV prevalence following return to school. No peaks were seen in asthma and cold symptoms using twice-weekly diary records. However, over the same period in the community, there were peaks in asthma emergency visits both at a large local hospital and in state-wide hospitalizations, following both return to school (February) and in late autumn (May) in children of the same age. This study suggests that hRV infections are common throughout the year among children, and differences in virus prevalence alone may not account for peaks in asthma symptoms.
Virology Research Laboratory, SEALS, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Australia.|School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Sacha
S
Stelzer-Braid
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.
Euan R
ER
Tovey
Virology Research Laboratory, SEALS, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Australia.
Christiana M
CM
Willenborg
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.|Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia.
Brett G
BG
Toelle
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.
Rose
R
Ampon
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.|South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Australia.|Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Frances L
FL
Garden
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.|University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
Brian G
BG
Oliver
Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, Australia.
Roxanne
R
Strachan
Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, Australia.|School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Yvonne
Y
Belessis
Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, Australia.|School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Adam
A
Jaffe
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.
Helen K
HK
Reddel
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.
Daniel
D
Crisafulli
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia.|South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Guy B
GB
Marks
Virology Research Laboratory, SEALS, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Australia.|School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia.|School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia.
William D
WD
Rawlinson
D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003139:Common Cold / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012229:Rhinovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012574:Schools; D012621:Seasons; D013334:Students
asthma; asthma exacerbations; emergency department presentations for asthma; hospital admission for asthma; human rhinovirus; respiratory viruses