Acute Lower Respiratory Thact Infection Due to Virus Among Hospitalized Children in Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Abstract
The nature of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI) in hospitalized children and of the associated viral agents was assessed in a study of 601 children <5 years old over a 24-month period. Of these children, 800/0 were <24 months of age and the ratio of boys to girls was 1.7:1. Pneumonia (86.5% of cases) was the most frequently observed clinical manifestation. Shedding of virus was detected in 21.1% of the children; the highest rate occurred in infants 0–5 months old (27%) as compared with a rate of only 12.5% in children 25–60 months old. Virus was detected in 33.3%,32.80/0,21.2%, and 20% ofthe cases oftracheobronchitis, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and croup, respectively. Among the viruses detected, 78% were respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (91% of infections with this virus occurred in children <2 years old) and 14.4% were influenza virus types A and B. Of the RSV infections, 61% occurred in infants <1 year old. The case-fatality rate was 6.8% overall and was 4.8% in virus-associated cases. No consistent pattern of seasonal occurrence of viral infections was discerned. RSV was detected throughout the year, with increased prevalence from January to April.

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