Review: Respiratory Virus Infection in Immunocompromised Children

Abstract

Respiratory virus infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in normal hosts. Respiratory tract viral infections often have similar symptoms and signs, and clinical diagnosis of these infections lacks specificity. Making a specific viral diagnosis usually requires laboratory confirmation to confirm the etiology and direct therapy. The number of patients with primary or secondary immunodeficiencies is increasing and these patients have an increased susceptibility to respiratory virus infections. Many immunosuppressed patients may have unusual manifestations of disease and many respiratory viral infections in these patients may have a prolonged course with severe infection resulting in increased morbidity and mortality compared with the normal host.

Keywords

respiratory viruses, cell-mediated immunity, T-cell, immunosuppressed