A review on disease burden and epidemiology of childhood parainfluenza virus infections in Asian countries. (30th September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rafeek, Rukshan A. M.; Divarathna, Maduja V. M.; Noordeen, Faseeha
• Is Part Of: Reviews in medical virology. Volume 31:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-09-30
• Subjects: acute respiratory tract infections -- children -- epidemiology -- hospitalization -- human parainfluenza viruses -- risk factors -- viral burden; Medical virology -- Periodicals; Review Literature -- Periodicals; Virus Diseases -- Periodicals; Viruses -- Periodicals; 616.0194
• DOI: 10.1002/rmv.2164
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1052-9276

Abstract

Summary: Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) are an important cause of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) in children less than 5 years, second only to human respiratory syncytial viruses (HRSVs). Generally, patients infected with HPIVs are treated in outpatient clinics, yet also contribute to ARTI‐associated hospitalization in children. Although HPIV infections are well studied in developed countries, these infections remain under‐investigated and not considered in the routine laboratory diagnosis of childhood ARTI in many developing countries in Asia. We performed an extensive literature search on the prevalence, epidemiology, and burden of HPIV infections in children less than 5 years in Asia using PubMed and PubMed Central search engines. Based on the literature, the prevalence of HPIV infection in Asia ranges from 1% to 66%. According to many studies, HPIV‐3 is the major virus circulating among children; however, several studies failed to detect HPIV‐4 due to unavailability of diagnostic tools. In Asian countries, HPIV contributes a substantial disease burden in children. The data in this review should assist researchers and public health authorities to plan preventive measures, including accelerating research on vaccines and antiviral drugs.