Respiratory viral infections among children with community-acquired pneumonia and pleural effusion

: Nascimento-Carvalho CM, Oliveira JR, Cardoso MA, Araujo-Neto C, Barral A, Saukkoriipi A, Paldanius M, Leinonen M, Lappalainen M, Soderlund-Venermo M, Vainionpaa R, Ruuskanen O

Publisher: INFORMA HEALTHCARE

: LONDON; TELEPHONE HOUSE, 69-77 PAUL STREET, LONDON EC2A 4LQ, ENGLAND

: 2013

: Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases

: Scand.J.Infect.Dis.

: 6

: 45

: 6

: 478

: 483

: 6

: 0036-5548

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/00365548.2012.754106

Pleural effusion (PE), a complication of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), is usually attributed to a bacterial infection. Nonetheless, viral infections have not been investigated routinely. We searched for bacterial and viral infections among 277 children hospitalized with CAP. Among these children 206 (74%) had radiographic confirmation, of whom 25 (12%) had PE. The aetiology was established in 18 (72%) PE cases: bacterial (n = 5; 28%), viral (n = 9; 50%), and viral-bacterial (n = 4; 22%) infections were found. Infection by rhinovirus (n = 3), enterovirus, Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 2 each), Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, influenza A virus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)(n = 1 each) were detected as probable sole infections. Parainfluenza virus 1/3 + influenza A virus and RSV + influenza A virus (n = 1 each) were identified as mixed viral-viral infections. Probable viral non-bacterial infection was identified in a third of the cases with CAP and PE. It is advisable to investigate viral as well as bacterial infections among children with CAP and PE.