ETIOLOGIC STUDIES OF ACUTE RESPIRATORY ILLNESS AMONG CHILDREN ATTENDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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Abstract
Surveillance of absenteeism was conducted among 3,102 school children in Omaha, Nebraska, during the 1964-1965 school year. Clinical and laboratory studies were made on 340 absentees with symptoms suggestive of an acute respiratory illness, representing a 10% random sample of all such absentees in the study population. Acute respiratory illness was the leading cause of absence and accounted for more than 1/3 the total absences and absentee days. "Common cold" and "sore throat" comprised approximately 90% of this category. Febrile illness was found in only 20% of the 340 cases studied; the average duration of illness was 3.8 days. Eighty agents pathogenic to the respiratory tract were recovered from 77 subjects or 24% of all acute respiratory infections studied. Beta hemolytic streptococci accounted for more than half the isolates; they were associated with pharyngeal complaints in most instances and infected the younger age group with greater frequency. Viral agents comprised 40% of the isolates. The most common infection viruses were myxo-viruses, followed in frequency of isolation by adenoviruses, herpesvirus, and picornaviruses. Adenovirus type 4 was recovered from 4 students with acute respiratory illness with no known contact with military personnel. Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection was diagnosed in 6 instances and was associated with relatively severe illness.