Virus Detection in Critically Ill Children with Acute Respiratory Disease : A New Profile in View of New Technology.

To describe the epidemiology of critically ill children admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with acute respiratory disease. The association with intubation was analyzed for the three most prevalent viruses and in those with and without viral co-infection.Patients admitted to the PICU (2004 - 2014) with acute respiratory disease were included. Analyses were performed utilizing each respiratory viral infection or multiple viral infections as an exposure.There were 1,766 admissions with acute respiratory disease of which 1,372 had respiratory virus testing and 748 had one or more viruses detected. The risk of intubation before or during the PICU stay was higher if parainfluenza virus was detected compared to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (OR: 2.20; 95%CI: 1.06 - 4.56). Sixty-three admissions had two or more viruses detected and the combination of RSV and rhino/entero virus was the most common. No significant difference was observed in the risk of intubation between patients with multiple and single viral infections.Higher risk of intubation was found in patients with parainfluenza as compared to RSV. The risk of intubation comparing parainfluenza virus to other viruses and for patients with multiple versus single virus needs to be further studied. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.