Respiratory viruses from hospitalized children with severe pneumonia in the Philippines.

Background: Pneumonia remains a leading cause of child death in developing countries. The viruses in severe pneumonia remain poorly defined.

Methods: The study was conducted at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City, Philippines from May 2008 to May 2009. Patients aged 8 days to 13 years old who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics with severe pneumonia were enrolled for the study. Upon admission, polymerase chain reaction was performed using nasopharyngeal swabs and blood cultures to detect respiratory viruses and bacteria, respectively.

Result: Among the 819 patients enrolled, at least one virus was detected in 501 cases (61.2%). In addition, 423 cases were positive for a single virus while bacteria were detected in the blood culture sample of 31 cases. The most commonly detected viruses were human rhinoviruses (n = 189), including types A (n = 103), B (n = 17), and C (n = 69), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (n = 165). Novel viruses such as human metapneumovirus, human coronavirus NL63, human bocavirus, and human polyomaviruses WU and KI were also detected. There were 70 deaths, and one or more viruses were detected in 35 (50%) of these cases. Positivity only for influenza A virus (OR = 4.3, 95% CI = 1.3-14.6) was significantly associated with fatal outcome. From the blood culture, Burkholderia cepacia group (n = 9), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 4), Staphylococcus aureus (n = 4), Haemophilus influenzae (n = 1), and Salmonella C1 (n = 1) were also isolated.

Conclusion: Viruses were commonly detected in children with severe pneumonia in the Philippines. Hence, viral etiologies should be considered while developing better effective strategies to reduce child pneumonia-related deaths in developing countries.