Health
Common cold virus linked to hospitalizations of young children
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 12, 2007
The rhinovirus is associated with 26% of respiratory illness hospitalizations of children younger than 5, and the risk is highest for infants and asthmatic youngsters, says the March 15 Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Researchers collected data on 592 children hospitalized in Nashville, Tenn., and Rochester, N.Y., from October 2000 to September 2001. Extrapolating to the general population, they found that 17.6 per thousand children younger than 6 months will be hospitalized because of this virus. The rate was six per thousand for those 6 to 23 months and two per thousand for children 24 to 59 months. The rate was 25.3 per thousand for toddlers and infants with a history of asthma.
An accompanying editorial expressed caution, because detecting the virus does not necessarily mean it is causing the illness. The editorial called for studies to determine the virus' role in childhood hospitalization.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/03/12/hlbf0312.htm.
