Clinical characteristics of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) infection in children and the performance of rapid antigen test.

Purpose: In autumn 2009, the swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus spread throughout South Korea. The aims of this study were to determine the clinical characteristics of children infected by the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus, and to compare the rapid antigen and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients ≥18 years of age who presented to Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul with respiratory symptoms, including fever, between September 2009 and January 2010.