Clinical impact of respiratory virus in pulmonary exacerbations of children with Cystic Fibrosis.

Abstract

BackgroundsCystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic, multisystemic, progressive illness that causes chronic suppurative lung disease. A major cause of morbimortality in this condition are pulmonary exacerbations. Although classically attributed to bacterial infections, respiratory virus have been increasingly recognized in its ethiopathogeny.MethodsNasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from children ResultsOut of 70 samples collected from 48 patients, 35.7% were positive for respiratory viruses. Rhinovirus were the most common (28% of all positive samples), followed by RSV. The virus positive group was associated with change in sinus discharge (p = 0.03). Considering only patients younger than five years old, positive virus detection was also associated with fever (p = 0.01). There was no significant difference in clinical severity or in bacterial colonization between virus positive and negative groups.ConclusionsProspective studies are still needed to assess the long term impact of viral infections in patients with CF, and their interaction with the bacterial microbiome in these patients.