Respiratory syncytial virus infection among hospitalized young children with acute lower respiratory illnesses in Al Ain, UAE.

To establish the frequency and clinical pattern of Respiratory Syncytial virus (RSV) infection in the region, children under 3 years of age admitted for acute lower respiratory illness during two winter seasons of the years 1993-94 and 1994-95 were studied prospectively. Seventy two cases were diagnosed to have RSV infection among the 252 studied, representing 28.57% of these patients. The overall infection rate was 32.1% and 36.5% respectively for the two studied winter seasons. Among these children, 90% were under 12 months of age. A clinical diagnosis of sepsis and respiratory distress was entertained in five RSV positive cases and they were < 1 month of age. The clinical pattern of RSV infection included bronchiolitis in 58.3% of cases, bronchopneumonia (19.4%) and pneumonia (11.1%). RSV activity was detected throughout the year with predominance during cooler months with an associated relative humidity (RH) between 50-60%. These results indicate that RSV plays a significant etiologic role among ALRI in hospitalized infants and young children in the Oasis region of the UAE. Factors such as RH, environmental temperature and lifestyle probably play an additional role in our region for the maintenance and dissemination of infection around the year.