title: Detection of respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus in healthy infants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the research importance of rhinovirus detection in asymptomatic healthy infants, the literature remains sparse.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and rhinovirus (and its species).
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional study of 110 healthy, non-hospitalized infants without acute illness at an academic medical center from November 2013 through May 2014. We tested nasal swab specimens by using polymerase chain reaction and genetic sequencing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the median age was 3.8 months (IQR 2.0-5.1 months), 56 % were male, and 90% were born >37 weeks. RSV was detected in nasal swabs from infants (1.8%). By contrast, rhinovirus was detected in nasal swabs from 16 infants (14.5%). Molecular typing assay revealed rhinovirus species: six rhinovirus-A (5.5%), one rhinovirus-B (0.9%), eight rhinovirus-C (7.3%), and one untypeable (0.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this cross-sectional study of healthy, community-based infants, RSV was rare (<2%) in nasal swabs, while rhinovirus was detected in 14.5% with a predominance of rhinovirus-A and -C. These finding are important for understanding the clinical significance of rhinovirus detection among infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 125 Nashua Street, Suite 920, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. khasegawa1@partners.org.
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. rachellinnemann@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rachel W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Linnemann
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA. avadhanu@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Vasanthi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Avadhanula
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Jonathan.Mansbach@childrens.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mansbach
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA. ppiedra@bcm.edu.|Departments of Molecular Virology and Microbiology and Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA. ppiedra@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Pedro A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Piedra
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA. gern@medicine.wisc.edu.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gern
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 125 Nashua Street, Suite 920, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. CCAMARGO@PARTNERS.ORG.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Camargo
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D058889:Molecular Typing; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000821:virology; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D012229:Rhinovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods