Parainfluenza Virus Infection Among Adults Hospitalized for Lower Respiratory Tract Infection

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 134 - 140
• Main Authors: Marx, Arthur, Gary, Howard E., Marston, Barbara J., Erdman, Dean D., Breiman, Robert F., Török, Thomas J., Plouffe, Joseph F., File, Thomas M., Anderson, Larry J.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01.07.1999; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Adult; Antibodies; Biological and medical sciences; Clinical Articles; Disease Outbreaks; Epidemics; Etiology; Female; Hospitalization; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Parainfluenza Virus 1, Human - immunology; Parainfluenza Virus 2, Human - immunology; Parainfluenza Virus 3, Human - immunology; Paramyxoviridae infections; Paramyxoviridae Infections - epidemiology; Paramyxoviridae Infections - immunology; Paramyxoviridae Infections - virology; Pathogens; Patient Discharge; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - immunology; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; Prospective Studies; Respiratory tract infections; Specimens; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases; Viral pneumonia; Viruses; Ohio; United States; North America; America; Pneumonia; Pathogenesis; Serology; Epidemiology; Paramyxoviridae; Microbiological investigation; Human parainfluenza virus 3; Human parainfluenza virus 2; Seasonal variation; Human parainfluenza virus 1; Bronchus disease; Adult; Bronchitis; Diagnosis; Sanitary surveillance; Human; Lung disease; Respiratory disease; Infection; Virus; Paramyxovirinae; Symptomatology; Mononegavirales; Viral disease; Rubulavirus; Paramyxovirus
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1086/520142

To better define the contribution of human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) to lower respiratory tract infection in adults, we tested acute- and convalescent-phase serum specimens from hospitalized adults participating in a population-based prospective study of lower respiratory tract infection during 1991–1992. We tested all available specimens from the epidemic seasons for each virus and ∼300 randomly selected specimens from the corresponding off-seasons for antibodies to HPIV-1, HPIV-2, or HPIV-3. During the respective epidemic season, HPIV-1 infection was detected in 18 (2.5%) of 721 and HPIV-3 infection in 22 (3.1%) of 705 patients with lower respiratory tract infection. Only 2 (0.2%) of 1,057 patients tested positive for HPIV-2 infection. No HPIV-1 infections and only 2 (0.7% of 281 patients tested) HPIV-3 infections were detected during the off-seasons. HPIV-1 and HPIV-3 were among the four most frequently identified infections associated with lower respiratory tract infection during their respective outbreak seasons.