Clinical correlation of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus load measured by digital PCR

Hijano, Diego R.; Brazelton de Cardenas, Jessica; Maron, Gabriela; Garner, Cherilyn D.; Ferrolino, Jose A.; Dallas, Ronald H.; Gu, Zhengming; Hayden, Randall T.

Fever was associated with higher viral load only in patients with influenza A infection (P < 0.001) and not in those with influenza B infection (Fig 2A and 2D ). Viral load for patients with RSV was significantly higher in febrile patients �5 years of age (P < 0.05), but this difference was not significant for older patients (Fig 2G) . Patients with cough had significantly higher viral loads than those who did not have these signs/symptoms, irrespective of age or virus type (Fig 2B-2E-2H ). While nasal congestion was significantly associated with higher viral for Influenza A and Influenza B, only patients > 5 years of age with nasal congestion and RSV infection had significantly higher viral load when compared to those who did not report this symptom (Fig 2C-2F-2I ). The most common viruses associated with influenza or RSV were rhinovirus or enterovirus, followed by coronavirus OC43 and parainfluenza type 3. Oxygen requirement, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and number of deaths did not differ between patients with single infection and those with coinfections.