Epidemiology and clinical profile of pathogens responsible for the hospitalization of children in Sousse area, Tunisia.

Epidemiology and clinical profile of pathogens responsible for the hospitalization of children in Sousse area, Tunisia.

Ines Brini, Aida Guerrero, Naila Hannachi, Jihene Bouguila, Dorothea Orth-Höller, Amira Bouhlel, Lamia Boughamoura, Benjamin Hetzer, Wegene Borena, Britta Schiela, Dorothee von Laer, Jalel Boukadida, Heribert Stoiber

This study aimed to identify a broad spectrum of respiratory pathogens from hospitalized and not-preselected children with acute respiratory tract infections in the Farhat Hached University-hospital of Sousse, Tunisia. Between September 2013 and December 2014, samples from 372 children aged between 1 month and 5 years were collected, and tested using multiplex real-time RT-PCR by a commercial assay for 21 respiratory pathogens. In addition, samples were screened for the presence of Streptococcus pneumoniae 16S rDNA using real-time PCR. The viral distribution and its association with clinical symptoms were statistically analyzed. Viral pathogens were detected in 342 (91.93%) of the samples of which 28.76% were single positive and 63.17% had multiple infections. The most frequent detected viruses were rhinovirus (55.64%), respiratory syncytial virus A/B (33.06%), adenovirus (25.00%), coronavirus NL63, HKU1, OC43, and 229E (21.50%), and metapneumovirus A/B (16.12%). Children in the youngest age group (1-3 months) exhibited the highest frequencies of infection. Related to their frequency of detection, RSV A/B was the most associated pathogen with patient's demographic situation and clinical manifestations (p

2017

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188325

PLoS ONE

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Science, Medicine

EN