Testing for Common Respiratory Viruses in Children Admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care: Epidemiology and Outcomes

Objectives: Viral infections are common in children, but there is a lack of data on severe viral infections in critically ill children. We investigated testing for viral infections in children requiring PICU admission and describe the epidemiology and outcomes. Design: Multicenter retrospective study. Results of viral testing for nine respiratory viruses using polymerase chain reaction were collected. Participants: Children less than 16 years old nonelectively admitted to PICU over a 6-year period. Setting: Two tertiary PICUs in Queensland, Australia. Interventions: None. Main Outcome Measures: Primary outcome was PICU length of stay. Secondary outcomes included need for and duration of intubation and mortality in PICU. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed, adjusting for age, indigenous status, comorbidities, and severity of illness. Results: Of 6,426 nonelective admissions, 2,956 (46%) were polymerase chain reaction tested for a virus of which 1,353 (46%) were virus positive. Respiratory syncytial virus was the most common pathogen identified (n = 518, 33%), followed by rhinovirus/enterovirus and adenovirus. Across all patients who underwent polymerase chain reaction testing, identification of a respiratory virus was not significantly associated with longer overall length of stay (multivariate odds ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.99–1.17; p = 0.068) or longer intubation (p = 0.181), whereas the adjusted odds for intubation and mortality...
Source: Pediatric Critical Care Medicine - Category: Pediatrics Tags: Online Clinical Investigations Source Type: research