Infection rates of respiratory syncytial virus in pediatric patients attending Phra Mongkutklao Hospital, Bangkok.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other pathogens were isolated from nasopharyngeal secretions from 200 pediatric patients attending the Out Patient Department of Phra Mongkutklao Hospital with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. Their sera were also taken for determination of class specific immunoglobulin antibody titers. The positive isolation rates were 36% for RSV, 5.5% for adenovirus 1.5% for herpes simplex virus (HSV), and 4% for Staphylococcus aureus. One to 5.5% of these patients had mixed infection. Ninety five percent of patients with positive RSV isolations had IgM antibody which was found only in 30.7% in patients with negative RSV isolations. This result indicated that RSV was likely to be the most common pathogen responsible for the upper respiratory tract infections in children in Bangkok during the rainy season.