Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection and its Subgroups Among the Hospitalized Young Children With Acute Respiratory Infection

Abstract

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause acute respiratory infection (ARI) in infants and young children. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the incidence of RSV infection and its subgroups among children with ARI. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 throat samples were collected from hospitalized children with ARI in different hospitals across the Khuzestan province from June 2009 to April 2010. The samples were tested for RSV by the nested PCR. The product of positive RSV was sequenced to determine the RSV subgroup, followed by phylogenic tree. Results: Of total 100 patients, 29 (29%) including 16 (16%) male and 13 (13%) female were found positive for RSV infection. All the RSV positive patients were subgroup A dominant. High prevalence of RSV (8%) was found among the children under one year in contrast to 2% RSV incidence among the age group 6 years. Conclusions: This study revealed that RSV subgroup A is dominant among the young children especially in children less than one year of age.