This prospective cohort study, performed during the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, was aimed to determine whether adults working in acute care hospitals were at higher risk than other working adults for influenza and to assess risk factors for influenza among health care workers (HCWs). We assessed the risk for influenza among 563 HCWs and 169 non-HCWs using PCR to test nasal swab samples col...

BACKGROUND Adult-onset asthma is frequently associated with antecedent respiratory symptoms that could represent either previously undiagnosed asthma or previous lung infections that result in subsequent asthma. To further investigate a reported association of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and adult reactive airway disease, we looked for evidence of atypical infections in patients with acute w...

Respiratory illness and infection was studied in the community of Tecumseh, Michigan, USA, during a six-year period. Acute illness was ascertained by making weekly telephone calls, and prevalent agents were identified by microbial isolation. Infection rates were determined serologically using blood specimens collected routinely at six monthly intervals from those reported to be ill. Illness rat...

results the data showed that vital signs and physical examination findings are useful screening parameters for predicting chest radiograph findings in outpatient settings. therefore, by implementing a prediction rule, we would be able to determine which patients would benefit from a chest x-ray (sensitivity, 94% and specificity, 57%). conclusion this study's findings suggest that requesting che...

BACKGROUND Military recruits receiving training are vulnerable to acute respiratory disease and a significant proportion of illness is due to unidentified pathogens. While some countries use surveillance programs to monitor such illness, few data exist for recruits of the British Armed Forces. OBJECTIVES Through active surveillance of approximately 1000 Royal Navy trainees during 2001, we sou...

BACKGROUND Few studies have examined respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in adults. We assessed the characteristics and outcomes of RSV relative to other viral infections. METHODS Patients ≥ 50 years old with acute respiratory illness were recruited for studies of influenza vaccine effectiveness from 2004 through 2010. Nasopharyngeal swabs from enrollees were analyzed for the presenc...

Exacerbations of chronic bronchitis are often preceded by symptoms of infection of the upper respiratory tract, but little is known of the frequency with which they are precipitated by virus infections. There is evidence that bronchitics develop severe illness when infected with influenza A virus (Tyrrell, 1952; Walker, Douglas, Leckie, Pines, and Grant, 1958; Louria, Blumenfeld, Ellis, Kilbour...

During the first year of enhanced MERS coronavirus surveillance in England, 77 persons traveling from the Middle East had acute respiratory illness and were tested for the virus. Infection was confirmed in 2 travelers with acute respiratory distress syndrome and 2 of their contacts. Patients with less severe manifestations tested negative.

BACKGROUND Respiratory viruses are associated with a huge socio-economic burden and are responsible for a large proportion of acute respiratory illness in hospitalised adults. Laboratory PCR is accurate but takes at least 24 h to generate a result to clinicians and antigen-based point-of-care tests (POCT) lack sensitivity. Rapid molecular platforms, such as the FilmArray Respiratory Panel, have...