Respiratory viruses in children younger than five years old with acute respiratory disease from 2001 to 2004 in Uberlandia, MG, Brazil

The main viruses involved in acute respiratory diseases among children are: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenzavirus (FLU), parainfluenzavirus (PIV), adenovirus (AdV), human rhinovirus (HRV), and the human metapneumovirus (hMPV). The purpose of the present study was to identify respiratory viruses that affected children younger than five years old in Uberlandia, Midwestern Brazil. Nasopharyngeal aspirates from 3 79 children attended at Hospital de Clinicas (HC/UFU), from 2001 to 2004, with acute respiratory disease, were collected and tested by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) to detect RSV FLU A/B, PIV 1/2/3 and AdV and RT-PCR to detect HRV RSV was defected in 26.4% (100/379) of samples, FLU A/B in 9.5% (36/379), PIV 1/2/3 in 6.3% (24/379) and AdV in 3.7% (14/379). HRV were detected in 29.6% (112/379) of the negative and indeterminate samples tested by IFI. RSV particularly among children less than six months of life, and HRV cases showed highest incidence. Negative samples by both IFA and RT-PCR might reflect the presence of other pathogens, such as hMPV coronavirus, and bacteria. Laboratorial diagnosis constituted an essential instrument to determine the incidence of the most common viruses in respiratory infections among children in this region.