Incidence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Among Young Children of Bandar Abbas, Southern Iran

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a lower respiratory tract infection in infants and children younger than five yearsold. This disease is an important factor for hospitalization during the winter months.Methods: To determine the percentage of RSV infection in infants younger than ۶۰ months old in different seasons, the currentstudy was performed during ۱۲ months in ۲۰۱۴ in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. Overall, ۱۸۲ children aged less than five years withclinical symptoms of tachydyspnea, fever, cold/cough, sore throat, and aches (examined by one specialist pediatrician) were consecutivelyselected from inpatient or outdoor patients of the children’s hospital in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Children’s throat swabs werecollected and RSV infection was detected by real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Results: In total, ۵۷.۱۴% of all children were male and ۴۲.۸۶% were female. Respiratory syncytial virus infection was found in ۴۶ outof ۱۸۲ patients (۲۵.۳%). Among the ۴۶ children with RSV infection, ۲۲ patients (۴۷.۸۳%) were male and ۲۴ patients (۵۲.۱۷%) were femalewith no significant difference between males and females. Most RSV infections were found in infants younger than ۳۶ months old.There were significant differences between RSV positivity in winter and summer as ۸۶.۹۶% of positive RSV was during winter and۱۳.۰۴% was during summer.Conclusions: This study indicates that RSV is an important cause of respiratory tract infection in winter time in infants less than ۳۶months old in Bandar Abbas.

Keywords:

RSV , Bandar Abbas , Iran , Age , ۲۰۱۴