Human rhinoviruses in Chinese adults with acute respiratory tract infection

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the roles of human rhinoviruses (HRVs) in acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) in Chinese adults and determine the association between species of HRV and clinical presentations. METHODS: RT-PCR methods were used to detect HRVs in throat and nasal swabs collected from 6104 adult patients with ARTIs from December 2005 to April 2008 in Beijing, China. RESULTS: HRV strains were detected in 271 ARTIs cases, 65% of which tested positive for HRV-A, 25% for HRV-B, and 10% for HRV-C. Aside from fever, pharyngeal congestion and headache were the most common clinical symptoms observed in the HRVs infected patients. HRV-A infected patients had a higher percentage of upper respiratory symptoms than patients infected by the two other HRV species. Systemic symptoms such as chilliness and myalgia were more frequent in people infected by HRV-B. The three HRV species exhibited unique infection timing when analyzed monthly. CONCLUSION: HRV-C can be detected in adult patients with acute upper respiratory tract infections, but is not the predominant species in this population.