Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 11 1997, 2864-2868, Vol 35, No. 11
E Arruda, A Pitkaranta, TJ Witek Jr, CA Doyle and FG Hayden
Human rhinovirus (HRV) accounts for a significant portion of common- cold
illness, with the peak incidence being in the early fall. Three hundred
forty-six adults who had self-diagnosed colds of 48 h or less were enrolled
in a study during September and October 1994 to determine the frequency and
clinical course of HRV infections. Nasal wash specimens for viral culture
and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) for HRV RNA and human coronavirus
OC43 and 229E RNA detection were collected on enrollment, and participants
recorded their symptoms twice daily for 14 days. Middle ear pressure (MEP)
was measured with a digital tympanometer on days 1 and 7. Picornaviruses
(224 HRV and 7 enterovirus isolates) were detected by culture in 67% (231
of 346) of the subjects. Among 114 samples negative by culture, HRV was
detected by RT-PCR in 52 (46%) for an overall picornavirus infection rate
of 82% (283 of 346 subjects). Among the remaining 62 negative samples,
human coronavirus RNA was detected by RT-PCR in 5 patients, so that 288
(83%) of patients had documented viral infection. The first symptom noticed
most often was sore throat (40%) in HRV culture- or PCR-positive patients
and stuffy nose in HRV-negative patients (27%). No differences in symptom
scores over time or in the presence of individual symptoms were noted
between groups. The median duration of the cold episodes was 11 days in HRV
culture-positive patients, 9.5 days in HRV RT-PCR- positive patients, and
11.5 days in HRV-negative patients. On enrollment, abnormal MEPs (< or =
-100 or > or = +100 mm of H2O) were found for 21% of HRV
culture-positive patients, 14% of HRV RT-PCR- positive patients, and 10% of
HRV-negative patients. No important differences in the clinical course of
HRV culture-positive, HRV culture- negative and RT-PCR-positive, or
HRV-negative colds were found. These results represent the highest
frequency of virologically confirmed natural colds to date and document the
importance of rhinoviruses as the cause of colds during fall months.
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Frequency and natural history of rhinovirus infections in adults during autumn [In Process Citation]
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville 22908, USA.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. | Clin. Microbiol. Rev. |
|---|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|