Prevalence of respiratory viruses by Multiplex PCR: a four-and-a-half year retrospective study in an Italian general hospital

Infez Med. 2021 Mar 1;29(1):94-101.ABSTRACTViruses are frequent causal agents of acute respiratory infections and the most common are influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human parainfluenza virus (HPIV), human metapneumovirus (HMPV), rhinovirus (RV), adenovirus (AdV) and the four endemic human coronaviruses (HCoV) -229E, -NL63, -OC43, -HKU1. Multiplex real-time PCR platforms are becoming increasingly common in laboratories mostly in relation to the increased diagnostic sensitivity and reduced turnaround time. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of respiratory viruses in a population of patients within the S.S. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo General Hospital catchment area of Alessandria, Italy, from January 2016 to June 2020. Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed the results of multiplex real-time PCR performed on nasopharyngeal swabs collected from consecutive patients with symptoms of respiratory infection. A total of 572 patients were included in the study subdivided as follows: pediatric 197/572 (34.4%), adults 200/572 (35%) and elderly 175/572 (30.6%). Among all samples, 235/572 (41.1%) were positive for a respiratory virus, of whom 189/235 (80.4%) were monomicrobial. The prevalence was: 15.5% (89/572) of rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV); 9.4% (54/572) of RSV; 8.9% (51/572) of influenza virus; 5.4% (31/572) of AdV; 3.1% (18/572) of HCoV; 2.8% (16/572) of HPIV; and 2.3% (13/572) of HMPV. RV/EV were the pathogens most frequently involved i...
Source: Infezioni in Medicina - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Source Type: research