2.3.1 Clinical manifestations and laboratory findings
Among the 623 patients with RSV infection identified in this study, the
medical data of 597 were collected successfully and analyzed. The
comorbidity rate was 2.9% in the 0–4 years old group, 0% in 5–17
years old group, 22.4% in 18–44 years old group, and 57.2% in ≥60
years old group; and presented an approximately rising trend as age
increasing (p < 0.001). Among the children with 0 to 4 years
of age, the most common symptoms were cough (95.8%), fever (87.8%),
sputum production (61.0%), rhinorrhea (42.9%), nasal congestion
(33.5%), dyspnea (12.3%), and sore throat (11.6%), whereas among the
adults 60 years of age or older, the most common symptoms were cough
(88.8%), sputum production (82.9%), fever (74.8%), dyspnea (52.6%),
sore throat (18.4%), and rhinorrhea (17.1%).
Notably, almost more than half of
patients with RSV infection aged ≥60 years eventually developed dyspnea
in their clinical course (52.6%; Table 1).
There were some differences in blood analysis observed between the
younger children and the elderly adults with RSV. The elderly patients
frequently developed lymphopenia
(5.1% for 0–4 yr, 41.5% for ≥60
yr, p<0.001), neutrophilia (15.1% for 0–4 yr, 71.2% for ≥60
yr, p<0.001), and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP; 23.2% for
0–4 yr, 73.6% for ≥60 yr, p<0.001), which indicated that
there might be co-existing bacterial infection in these elderly patients
besides RSV infection. However, the
younger child patients were more
likely to develop elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels
(34.9% for 0–4 yr, 13% for ≥60
yr, p<0.001) and/or an elevated creatine kinase MB fraction
(CKMB; 30.4% for 0–4 yr, 2.5% for ≥60 yr, p<0.001), which
suggested that acute heart injuries may have occurred (Table 2).
Radiographic findings showed that the older the age of the patients with
RSV infection was, the larger the proportion of pneumonia (23.2% for
0–4 yr, 59.2% for ≥60 yr, p<0.001). Furthermore, about 50%
of the abnormal radiographic findings involved bilateral
lung in children and adults (Table
2).