Pathogens for acute interstitial pneumonia: an analysis on 20 children

Abstract

Objective To detect the pathogens causing acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) in children in order to identify the pathogenesis of the disease. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the autopsy data from 95 children with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia examined in our department between January, 2002 and October, 2018. We collected tissue samples from 20 children with a definite diagnosis of AIP based on the criteria of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and American Thoracic Society (ATS), and from 13 children without lung diseases who died in accident as the control group. The antibodies of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Coxsackie and adenovirus (CAV), influenza A virus, influenza B virus, Toll-like receptors 2 (TLR-2) and chlamydia pneumoniae (CMP) in the tissue samples were detected using immunohistochemistry. Results In the 20 children with AIP, 10 were positive for RSV, 7 for CAV, 1 for influenza A virus, 2 for influenza B virus, 1 for CMP and 2 for TLR-2 antibody; in the control group, 1 child was positive for RSV, 2 for CAV, 1 for influenza A virus, 1 for influenza B virus, and 2 for TLR-2 antibody. The positive rate of RSV antibody differed significantly (P 0.05) between the 2 groups. Conclusion RSV infection is a probable pathogen causing AIP in children.

Keywords

• acute interstitial pneumonia
• respiratory syncitial virus
• children
• pathogen