Detection of Common Respiratory Viruses and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in Patient-Occupied Rooms in Pediatric Wards

Wan, Gwo-Hwa; Huang, Chung-Guei; Chung, Fen-Fang; Lin, Tzou-Yien; Tsao, Kuo-Chien; Huang, Yhu-Chering

RSV was detected on all objects tested excepting the television remote control buttons ( Figure 1A) , with the bed rails having the highest detection rate (15.38%). Influenza A virus was found on the call buttons (15.38%) and the door knobs of the bathrooms and ward rooms (10.26%; Figure 1B ). Adenovirus was detected on all 5 object types at very high rates (88.9-100%; Figure 1C ). The detection rates for M pneumoniae were also high; the call buttons and television remote control buttons had the highest rates (both 50%), and the light switches had the lowest rate (16.67%; Figure 1D ). In the swab samples, the median concentrations of influenza A virus (930.15 copies/unit area, P < 0.01) and adenovirus (1893.05 copies/unit area, P < 0.01) were significantly higher than that of RSV (12.33 copies/unit area; Figure 2 ). The concentrations of M pneumoniae in the swab samples ranged from 317.58 to 96,894.9 copies/unit area, and the median concentration of M pneumoniae (3669.52 copies/unit area) was significantly higher than that of RSV (P < 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences between the concentrations of influenza A virus, adenovirus, and M pneumoniae in the swab samples.