Carl D. Brandt

Journal Article EPIDEMIOLOGY OF RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS INFECTION IN WASHINGTON, D.C. I. IMPORTANCE OF THE VIRUS IN DIFFERENT RESPIRATORY TRACT DISEASE SYNDROMES AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF INFECTION Get access HYUN WHA KIM, HYUN WHA KIM Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar JULITA O. ARROBIO, JULITA O. ARROBIO Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar CARL D. BRANDT, CARL D. BRANDT Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar BARBARA C. JEFFRIES, BARBARA C. JEFFRIES Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar GLORIA PYLES, GLORIA PYLES Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar JANNIE L. REID, JANNIE L. REID Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar ROBERT M. CHANOCK, ROBERT M. CHANOCK Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar ROBERT H. PARROTT ROBERT H. PARROTT Reprint requests to Dr. Parrott, Children's Hospital, 2125 Thirteenth St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 98, Issue 3, September 1973, Pages 216–225, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121550 Published: 01 September 1973 Article history Received: 02 March 1973 Published: 01 September 1973

We found a human reovirus-like agent in the stools of 42 per cent of 143 infants and young children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis between January, 1974, and June, 1975. Half the patients studied by electron microscopy and serologic technics had evidence of infection with the agent. The infection had a seasonal pattern: 59 per cent of those admitted during the cooler months (November to April) shed the agent, with a peak of 78 per cent in December, 1974, and January, 1975, combined. None of the patients admitted during the warmer months (May to October) shed the agent. None of 275 Escherichia coli isolates from 32 patients with diarrhea produced heat-labile enterotoxin, whereas 17 of the 32 had evidence of infection with the reovirus-like agent. In addition, 14 of 40 parents of 37 patients with diarrhea associated with the reovirus-like agent were also infected, but most infectious were inapparent. This agent appears to be the major cause of diarrheal illness in the young during the cooler months.

The occurrence of RSV infection and disease was examined with respect to patient age, immunologic status, race and sex. The peak incidence of RSV bronchiolitis and pneumonia was observed at 2 months of age. Thereafter the incidence of these diseases decreased with increasing age, more rapidly for bronchiolitis than for pneumonia. Each of 75 patients who had RSV bronchiolitis or pneumonia during the first 3 months of life possessed neutralizing antibody in his serum during the acute phase of illness. In most instances the level of this antibody, presumably of maternal origin, was moderately high. In contrast, 15 of 57 infants who developed RSV bronchiolitis at 4–7 months of age lacked detectable antibody in their acute phase serum. This finding casts some doubt upon the essential role of serum antibody in RSV bronchiolitis. The serum CF antibody response to RSV was impaired in infants 1–3 months of age. The level of acute phase serum neutralizing antibody was inversely related to the height of the serum complement-fixation antibody response during convalescence, suggesting that maternally derived antibody may have suppressed the immunologic response of some infants. The clinical consequences of RSV infection in infancy did not appear to be influenced by race. The same proportion of males and females with respiratory tract disease yielded RSV; however, significantly more boys were admitted to the hospital for RSV pneumonia, bronchiolitis, croup and pharyngitis-bronchitis.