Viral Profile of COPD Exacerbations According to Patients§

Dimopoulos, G; Tsiodras, S; Lerikou, M; Chranioti, Aik; Perros, E; Anagnostopoulou, U; Karakitsos, P; Armaganidis, A

The isolated type of viruses in two groups didn't present any difference ( Table 3 ) except hPIV3 detection. Human parainfluenza viruses (hPIVs) are considered to be one of the most common causes of lower respiratory tract infections in children [32] [33] [34] but it is difficult to understand their biologic significance in this cohort. One possible explanation could have been the occurrence of a clonal hPIV outbreak during the study period. When analyzing the seasonal pattern of viral infections no statistically differences were noted although is well known, that COPD patients present more commonly exacerbations during the cold seasons (winterautumn) and viral infections have a higher prevalence during this period associated with a longer recovery period, longer in house stay and increased likelihood of hospital admission [12, 35] . Also, despite the important role of viral infections, in this study it was difficult to examine their true pathogenic role since for some of these viruses there is an increasing evidence that they could colonize the respiratory tract; such colonizers may act as modulators of the local immune response in a subsequent bacterial upper tract infection in an already susceptible patient but the exact interaction of bacterial with viral colonizers is an issue for further debate [36, 37] .