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This is an open-access article,... (2011)
BibTeX
@MISC{Douce11thisis,
author = {Richard W. Douce and Washington Aleman and Wilson Chicaiza-ayala and Cesar Madrid and Merly Sovero and Franklin Delgado and Mireya Rodas and Julia Ampuero and Gloria Chauca and Juan Perez and Josefina Garcia and Tadeusz Kochel and Eric S. Halsey and V. Alberto Laguna-torres},
title = {This is an open-access article,...},
year = {2011}
}
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Abstract
Background: Tropical countries are thought to play an important role in the global behavior of respiratory infections such as influenza. The tropical country of Ecuador has almost no documentation of the causes of acute respiratory infections. The objectives of this study were to identify the viral agents associated with influenza like illness (ILI) in Ecuador, describe what strains of influenza were circulating in the region along with their epidemiologic characteristics, and perform molecular characterization of those strains. Methodology/Findings: This is a prospective surveillance study of the causes of ILI based on viral culture of oropharyngeal specimens and case report forms obtained in hospitals from two cities of Ecuador over 4 years. Out of 1,702 cases of ILI, nine viral agents were detected in 597 patients. During the time of the study, seven genetic variants of influenza circulated in Ecuador, causing six periods of increased activity. There appeared to be more heterogeneity in the cause of ILI in the tropical city of Guayaquil when compared with the Andean city of Quito. Conclusions/Significance: This was the most extensive documentation of the viral causes of ILI in Ecuador to date. Influenza was a common cause of ILI in Ecuador, causing more than one outbreak per year. There was no well defined influenza season although there were periods of time when no influenza was detected alternating with epidemics of different variant
Keyphrases
open-access article tropical country viral agent important role tropical city molecular characterization increased activity conclusion significance common cause genetic variant oropharyngeal specimen case report form viral culture extensive documentation andean city epidemiologic characteristic prospective surveillance study global behavior respiratory infection different variant acute respiratory infection methodology finding viral cause
