Nation‐wide surveillance of human acute respiratory virus infections between 2013 and 2015 in Korea

• Published in: Journal of medical virology Vol. 90; no. 7; pp. 1177 - 1183
• Main Authors: Kim, Jeong‐Min, Jung, Hee‐Dong, Cheong, Hyang‐Min, Lee, Anna, Lee, Nam‐Joo, Chu, Hyuk, Lee, Joo‐Yeon, Kim, Sung Soon, Choi, Jang‐Hoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-07-2018; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: acute respiratory infections; Adolescent; Adult; Age composition; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Coinfection - epidemiology; Coinfection - virology; Coronaviridae; Coronaviruses; Cough; Data processing; Epidemiological Monitoring; Female; Fever; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Infections; Influenza; Information management; Korea - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Nasal Cavity - virology; Nose; Nucleic acids; Parainfluenza; Patients; Pharynx; Pharynx - virology; Polymerase chain reaction; Prevalence; Public health; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory syncytial virus; Respiratory Tract Infections - epidemiology; Respiratory Tract Infections - virology; respiratory viruses; Rhinovirus; Seasonal distribution; Seasonal variations; Seasons; Surveillance; Viral infections; Virology; Virus Diseases - epidemiology; Virus Diseases - virology; Viruses; Young Adult; Korea; respiratory viruses; acute respiratory infections; surveillance
• ISSN: 0146-6615; 1096-9071
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.25069

The prevalence of eight respiratory viruses detected in patients with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in Korea was investigated through analysis of data recorded by the Korea Influenza and Respiratory Viruses Surveillance System (KINRESS) from 2013 to 2015. Nasal aspirate and throat swabs specimens were collected from 36 915 patients with ARIs, and viral nucleic acids were detected by real‐time (reverse‐transcription) polymerase chain reaction for eight respiratory viruses, including human respiratory syncytial viruses (HRSVs), influenza viruses (IFVs), human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs), human coronaviruses (HCoVs), human rhinovirus (HRV), human adenovirus (HAdV), human bocavirus (HBoV), and human metapneumovirus (HMPV). The overall positive rate of patient specimens was 49.4% (18 236/36 915), 5% of which carried two or more viruses simultaneously. HRV (15.6%) was the most predominantly detected virus, followed by IFVs (14.6%), HAdV (7.5%), HPIVs (5.8%), HCoVs (4.2%), HRSVs (3.6%), HBoV (1.9%), and HMPV (1.6%). Most of the ARIs were significantly correlated with clinical symptoms of fever, cough, and runny nose. Although HRV and HAdV were frequently detected throughout the year in patients, other respiratory viruses showed apparent seasonality. HRSVs and IFVs were the major causative agents of acute respiratory diseases in infants and young children. Overall, this study demonstrates a meaningful relationship between viral infection and typical manifestations of known clinical features as well as seasonality, age distribution, and co‐infection among respiratory viruses. Therefore, these data could provide useful information for public health management and to enhance patient care for primary clinicians.