The prevalence of infection with herpes viruses among frequently ill children

Abstract

Frequently ill children (FIC) - a group of dispensary an inclusion criterion which is the frequency of episodes of colds are over 4-6 throughout the year depending on age. In children population among all diseases marked
the absolute predominance (90%) of acute respiratory infections (ARI). The maximum incidence of acute respiratory infections among children there is between the ages of 1 to 3 years, and then gradually decreases.
Among primary school children the incidence is 2-5 cases a year, among teens - no more than 2-4 diseases throughout the year. Opinions of scholars and practitioners pediatricians as to the legality of frequent classification of cases of children to pathologic conditions of the immune system are different and often diametrically opposed. Objective: To determine the prevalence of infection with herpes viruses of frequently ill children. Materials and methods. The analysis consists the results of clinical and laboratory examination of 170 frequently ill children. The criterion for selection of children for the study is the frequency of  episodes of colds according to the classification of A.A.Baranov V.Yu.Albitskiy. Analysis of clinical and anamnesis data revealed that in the observed group of children there is a  high rate of recurrent respiratory diseases. Thus, in the observed group of children the average incidence of ARI was 7,42 ± 0,92 episodes a year. The average duration of an episode of disease was 9,12 ± 2,75 days. The
complicated course occurred in 32% of cases, the average duration of a complicated episode grew to 12,37 ± 3,91 days. This study led to the following conclusions: 1. To 3 years of age, about 85% frequently ill children are infected with at least one virus of the family Herpesviridae. By 6 years of age the number grows to 95%, to 11 years - to 98%. 2. Infectiousness 3 or more herpes viruses among children up to 3 years is more than 30%, among children 3-6 years is 48%, in the age group 6-11 years more than 67%. 3. Most often children of all age groups infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV). 4. With age the rate of infection with varicella-zoster virus (VZV), Epstein-Barr virus ( EBV), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) higher than those for the HSV and CMV, and to 11 years in the frequency of detection of antibodies to any of the 5 studied types of herpes viruses among frequently ill children exceeds 50%.