Rapid detection and clinical features of influenza and parainfluenza in infants and young children hospitalized with acute lower respiratory illnesses

During the winter seasons of 2003 and 2004, a total of 282 nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) were obtained from infants and young children admitted to the Buraidah Maternity and Pediatric Hospital, Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia, and clinically diagnosed as suffering from acute lower respiratory tract infections. NPAs were screened for the presence of respiratory viruses and further confirmed for the presence of influenza, parainfluenza, and adenovirus using direct fluorescein-labeled monoclonal antibody assay. Of all the 282 specimens, 44 (15.6 per cent) were found positive for influenza, parainfluenza, and adenovirus. Influenza A and B were identified in 22 (7.8 per cent), 4 (1.4 per cent), respectively, parainfluenza 1, 2, and 3 in 9 (3.2 per cent), 4 (1.4 per cent), and 1 (0.4 per cent), respectively, and adenovirus in 4 (1.4 per cent). Influenza and parainfluenza viruses were noted more in patients below the age of 1 year; 11.3 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively. Bronchiolitis, coughing, and tachpnea were significantly more frequent in infants with influenza infection: 13.1 per cent, 55 per cent, and 50 per cent, respectively. The availability of rapid viral diagnostic assay is an important tool for physicians to make more accurate treatment decisions and therefore reduces unnecessary antibiotic usage and hospital stay for patients.