Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients with Pulmonary Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Infected with Influenza versus Other Respiratory Viruses

Yoo, Jung-Wan; Ju, Sunmi; Lee, Seung Jun; Cho, Min-Chul; Cho, Yu Ji; Jeong, Yi Yeong; Lee, Jong Deog; Kim, Ho Choel

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the chief conditions for which patients are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and contributes to substantial mortality rates 1 . Respiratory viral infection is not uncommon in critically ill patients who received invasive mechanical ventilation due to respiratory failure 2 . Some studies have reported that the frequency of respiratory viral infection ranged from 13.4% to 49% [3] [4] [5] . Availability of multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has facilitated the identification of respiratory viral infection 6 . Among the diverse risk factors for ARDS, respiratory viral infection has been shown to contribute to development and progression of pulmonary ARDS 7, 8 . Although several studies have reported the clinical impact of respiratory viruses on critically ill patients 3, 9 , further studies are needed to clarify the significance on those with pulmonary ARDS. Influenza viral infection in pulmonary ARDS has gained attention to intensivists due to high morbidity and mortality 10, 11 , but little data comparing characteristics and outcomes of the different types of viruses in patients with pulmonary ARDS. Moreover, differences in clinical outcomes between patients infected with influenza and other respiratory viruses have not been clearly elucidated.