Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of respiratory viral infections in children in Shanghai, China

Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) due to various viruses are not only the most common causes of upper and lower respiratory infection but are also major causes of morbidity and mortality in children. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and clinical characteristics of children with virus-related ARTIs and determined the spectrum of respiratory viruses and their correlation with meteorological variables in Jiading District, Shanghai, China. Nasopharyngeal swabs from 2819 children with ARTIs were collected from August 2011 to December 2014, and used for detection of respiratory viruses by multiplex RT-PCR. Seventeen respiratory viruses were detected among 691 (24.5 %) of 2819 patients. The highest prevalence of respiratory viruses was detected in the age group of less than 1 year (29.0 %), and the prevalence decreased with age. This suggests that children less than one year old are the most susceptible to infection. Influenza virus (IFV) was the most frequently detected virus (5.8 %), followed by parainfluenza virus (PIV) (5.7 %), enterovirus (EV) (4.3 %), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (3.6 %). Statistical analysis showed that epidemics of IFV, PIV and EV had distinct seasonal variations. Mean monthly temperature appeared to be the only meteorological factor associated with IFV and PIV infection. These findings will provide valuable information for decision-making, prevention and treatment of ARTIs in children.