Detection and molecular characterization of respiratory viruses that cause acute respiratory infection in the adult population.

Introduction: Acute respiratory infections are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in older adults and patients with chronic diseases. Among the responsible etiological agents are human respiratory viruses, such as: respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus and metapneumovirus.

Objective: To carry out a differential diagnostic study of respiratory viruses circulating and co-circulating in an adult population.

Methods: A pilot study was conducted in patients older than 18 years, who presented signs and symptoms suggestive of acute respiratory infection and whose clinical picture did not exceed 15 days of evolution; end-point polymerase chain reaction assays were performed with the use of specific oligonucleotides for molecular diagnosis.

Results: 72 specimens of patients with an age of 51.33 ± 19.33 years, with a predominance of females (4.5:1); original inhabitants of Mexico City; only 22 were positive for respiratory viruses, being mostly metapneumovirus infections.

Conclusions: The knowledge of the circulating viral strains in the population will allow to determine changes that can declare an epidemiological alert leading to the best decision making for the benefit of the patients.