Rhinoviruses are major causes of morbidity in patients with respiratory diseases; however, their modes of transmission are controversial. We investigated detection of airborne rhinovirus in office environments by polymerase chain reaction technology and related detection to outdoor air supply rates. We sampled air from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. each workday, with each sample run for 1 work week. We dire...

A polyprotein cleavage assay has been developed to assay the proteolytic activities in vitro of the 2A proteinases encoded by poliovirus and human rhinovirus 14, which are representative members of the Enterovirus and Rhinovirus genera of picornaviruses, respectively. The elastase-specific substrate-based inhibitors elastatinal and methoxysuccinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Val-chloromethylketone (MPCMK) inhi...

BACKGROUND Rhinoviruses frequently cause the common cold but have not been considered important causes of acute respiratory hospitalizations in children. METHODS A population-based surveillance study was performed among children <5 years of age who were hospitalized with respiratory symptoms or fever and who resided within counties encompassing Nashville, Tennessee, or Rochester, New York, fr...

The viruses associated most frequently with the "common cold" are rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. The first prospective cohort study to determine the prevalence of rhinovirus and coronavirus infections in patients of all ages hospitalized for acute respiratory illnesses is described. Hospital admissions for acute respiratory illnesses were identified, and cell culture for rhinovirus and serolog...

BACKGROUND Although information about the incidence of viral respiratory illnesses and their associated cost can help health officials explore the value of interventions, data are limited from middle-income countries. METHODS During 2008-2010, we conducted a prospective cohort study and followed ~1,800 Argentinian children aged ≤5 years to identify those children who were hospitalized or who ...

BACKGROUND Viral detection from different respiratory sample types in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) is facilitated by available molecular methods, but optimum sampling strategies have not been identified. In addition, associations between viral detection and respiratory symptoms are not well described. OBJECTIVES Study goals were to compare molecular detection of viruses from concurrent ...

BACKGROUND Respiratory infections are well known triggers of asthma exacerbations, but their role in stable adult asthma remains unclear. METHODS 103 asthmatics and 30 control subjects were enrolled in the study. Sputum was induced by inhalation of 3% NaCl solution. Oropharyngeal swab specimens were obtained from the posterior wall of the oropharynx. Respiratory specimens were analysed by RT-...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the prevalence of viral infections in children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). OBJECTIVES To describe the clinical and virological data collected from children with radiographically confirmed CAP in whom 17 respiratory viruses were sought in respiratory secretion samples during the acute phase of the disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study involved ...

Direct hand-to-hand contact is an important mechanism of transmission of rhinovirus infection. The rhinoviruses are inactivated at a low pH. A survey of organic acids in vitro revealed that these compounds have antirhinoviral activity that persists for at least 3 h after application to the skin. In additional studies of salicylic acid (SA) and pyroglutamic acid (PGA), the hands of volunteers we...

BACKGROUND The nature of bronchial mucosal inflammation and its physiologic and clinical significance in rhinovirus-induced asthma exacerbations is unclear. We investigated bronchial mucosal inflammatory response and its association with physiologic and clinical outcomes in an experimental model of rhinovirus-induced asthma exacerbations. METHODS We used immunohistochemistry methods to detect...