Acute respiratory infections in hospitalized children in Vientiane, Lao PDR - The importance of Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Van Hoan Nguyen, Audrey Dubot-Pérès*, Fiona M. Russell, David A.B. Dance, Keoudomphone Vilivong, Souphatsone Phommachan, Chanthaphone Syladeth, Jana Lai, Ruth Lim, Melinda Morpeth, Mayfong Mayxay, Paul N. Newton, Hervé Richet, Xavier De Lamballerie

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    16 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most important viral pathogens, causing epidemics of acute respiratory infection (ARI), especially bronchiolitis and pneumonia, in children worldwide. To investigate the RSV burden in Laos, we conducted a one-year study in children <5 years old admitted to Mahosot Hospital, Vientiane Capital, to describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics and predictive factors for severity of RSV-associated ARI. Pooled nasal and throat swabs were tested using multiplex real-time PCR for 33 respiratory pathogens (FTD® kit). A total of 383 patients were included, 277 (72.3%) of whom presented with pneumonia. 377 (98.4%) patients were positive for at least one microorganism, of which RSV was the most common virus (41.0%), with a peak observed between June and September, corresponding to the rainy season. Most RSV inpatients had pneumonia (84.1%), of whom 35% had severe pneumonia. Children <3-months old were a high-risk group for severe pneumonia, independently of RSV infection. Our study suggests that RSV infection is frequent in Laos and commonly associated with pneumonia in hospitalized young children. Further investigations are required to provide a better overall view of the Lao nationwide epidemiology and public health burden of RSV infection over time.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number9318
    JournalScientific Reports
    Volume7
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2017

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