Evaluation of respiratory multiplex PCR test in children with respiratory symptoms

Introduction: Viral respiratory tract infections are one of the most common reasons for admission to outpatient clinics. It is among the important causes of mortality and morbidity. It is important to investigate viral etiology with appropriate analysis methods, to prevent unnecessary antibiotic treatment and to allow antiviral treatment and vaccination for some viruses and selected patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical features of the patients whose 'Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction' (M-PCR) was studied among the patients applied to our Pediatric Chest Diseases and General Pediatrics polyclinics between June 2020 and May 2021. Methods: With the 'Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction' method in the samples taken from 179 patients (101 boys and 78 girls) who applied to Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Chest Diseases between June 2020 and May 2021 with respiratory symptoms; HRV, RSV A/B, HCoV, HPIV, HBoV, HMPV, adenovirus, parechovirus, enterovirus and influenza A/B viruses were analyzed. The results of M-PCR were compared in terms of physical examination, laboratory, radiological findings and treatment methods. Results: 114 of patients were diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infections and 65 of them with upper respiratory tract infections. The hospital admission period was mostly between October and February. The most frequent hospital admission was in December. Human metapneumovirus (24.1%), enterovirus (22.4%), human coronavirus (20.7%), adenovirus (12.1%), human bocavirus (8.6%), parechovirus (6.9%), parainfluenza virus (5.2%) were detected viruses. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of biochemical and radiological results of the patients. Monocytosis was found to be significant in the group with viral agents. Physical examination findings such as cough, respiratory distress, ral and rhonchi were found to be significantly different in the group without viral agents. When the treatments applied were evaluated, no significant difference was found between the groups in terms of antiviral use, antibiotic therapy, steroid treatment and inhaler treatment. Conclusion: Detection of respiratory tract agents is important in terms of giving antiviral treatment in appropriate indications, preventing empirical antibiotic use, and epidemiological studies. Keywords: Respiratory tract infections, viral agents, children.