{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T16:25:52Z","timestamp":1781886352705,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,2]],"date-time":"2022-09-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1662076800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008907","name":"University of Peradeniya","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UoP\/RG\/AF\/2013\/38\/M"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UoP\/RG\/AF\/2013\/38\/M"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008907","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Influenza viruses (Inf-V) are an important cause of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children. This study was undertaken to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of Inf-V infections in a sample of hospitalized children with ARI. Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) from 500 children between 1 month to 5 years old with symptoms of ARI were collected at the Teaching Hospital Kegalle Sri Lanka From May 2016 to June 2018, NPAs were tested for influenza A (Inf-A) and B (Inf-B) viruses, human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV), human parainfluenza virus (hPIV) 1\u20133 using an immunofluorescence assay. The Inf-V were then subtyped using a multiplex RT-PCR. Inf-V were detected in 10.75% (54\/502) of the hospitalized children with ARI and in that 5.57% (28\/502) were positive for Inf-A and 5.17% (26\/502) were positive for Inf-B. Of the 54 Inf-V positive children, 33 were aged between 6 and 20 months. Of the 28 children infected with Inf-A, 15 had uncharacterized lower respiratory infection, 7 had bronchopneumonia and 6 had bronchiolitis. Of the 26 children infected with Inf-B, 11 had uncharacterized lower respiratory infection, 10 had bronchiolitis, and 4 had bronchopneumonia. Inf-B circulated throughout the year with a few peaks, one in June and then in August followed by November to December in 2016 and one in April 2017 and January 2018. Inf-A circulated throughout the year with a major peak in March to April 2017 and July 2018. ARI was more common in boys compared to girls. Majority of the children infected with Inf-V were diagnosed with uncharacterized lower respiratory infection and mild to moderate bronchiolitis. Inf-V infections were prevalent throughout the year in the study area of Sri Lanka with variations in the type of the circulating virus.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0272415","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,2]],"date-time":"2022-09-02T17:25:24Z","timestamp":1662139524000},"page":"e0272415","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of influenza virus infection in hospitalized children with acute respiratory infections in Sri Lanka"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7190-9666","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rukshan A. M.","family":"Rafeek","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maduja V. 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