Comparison of clinical characteristics of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus infection in hospitalised children and adolescents

Abstract

While significant morbidity due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in the paediatric population has been well acknowledged, little is known about the burden of influenza in primarily healthy children in Europe. In our institution, a University Children’s Hospital in Switzerland, medical staff were encouraged to take nasopharyngeal specimens for multiplex polymerase chain reaction assays for influenza A and B, RSV and several other pathogens from patients hospitalised with respiratory symptoms. We took advantage of this strategy and performed a retrospective study to compare specific characteristics of influenza virus infections with those of RSV during two consecutive winter seasons. Overall, 126 patients were positive for RSV and 60 patients were positive for influenza (type A: 45; type B: 15). The median age of children with RSV, influenza A, and influenza B infection was 4 months; 2 years and 4 months; and 6 years and 2 months, respectively (PPConclusion: influenza virus infections, like respiratory syncytial virus infections, are a major cause of hospitalisation in children with respiratory illness during the winter season. Since it is impossible to make an aetiological diagnosis on clinical grounds, it is important to apply specific diagnostic tools in children hospitalised with respiratory illness in order to better characterise the relative burden of disease caused by the respective agents.