{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T05:54:53Z","timestamp":1781848493717,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781827200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aims to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of human parainfluenza virus (HPIV) infections in hospitalized children with acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) at a single center in Shanghai, and to provide scientific evidence for optimizing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for pediatric ARTIs.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A retrospective study was conducted on 29,260 children hospitalized with ARTIs at Shanghai Children\u2019s Hospital between January 2021 and December 2024. The study analyzed the sex distribution, age-specific patterns, seasonal variations, and coinfection characteristics of HPIV infections.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Among the 29,260 children with ARTIs, the overall detection rate of HPIV was 5.1% (1,487\/29,260). The highest positivity rates were observed in children aged &amp;lt;1\u202fyear (7.4%) and 1\u20133\u202fyears (8.1%), while the lowest was in those aged 13\u201318\u202fyears (1.7%; overall\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). No significant difference in detection rates was observed between male (5.3%, 845\/16,056) and female patients (4.9%, 642\/13,204) (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;gt;\u202f0.05). HPIV infections peaked in summer (9.4%), with detection rates significantly higher than in other seasons (all\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). The detection rate in 2021 (7.2%, 364\/5,053) was significantly higher than in subsequent years (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Coinfections were detected in 28.9% (429\/1,487) of HPIV-positive cases, with common co-pathogens including rhinovirus (35.2%, 151\/429),\n                      <jats:italic>Mycoplasma pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      (14.5%, 62\/429), and respiratory syncytial virus (13.3%, 57\/429). Mixed infections were independently associated with a higher risk of severe pneumonia (adjusted odds ratio 2.45;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      HPIV is a significant cause of hospitalization for ARTIs in children in Shanghai, especially among those under 3\u202fyears of age, with a distinct seasonal peak in summer. Mixed HPIV infections, particularly with rhinovirus and\n                      <jats:italic>Mycoplasma pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      , are associated with more severe disease. These findings support the need for heightened clinical awareness, targeted testing during peak seasons, and consideration of mixed infection status in patient management strategies.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1833325","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T05:48:19Z","timestamp":1781848099000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Epidemiological characteristics of human parainfluenza virus infection in hospitalized children: a single-center study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Yuzhe","family":"Guo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Shanghai Children\u2019s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huilin","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Shanghai Children\u2019s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Weiqin","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Shanghai Children\u2019s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Shanghai Children\u2019s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yujuan","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Shanghai Children\u2019s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2164","DOI":"10.1002\/rmv.2164","article-title":"A review on disease burden and epidemiology of childhood parainfluenza virus infections in Asian countries","volume":"31","author":"Rafeek","year":"2021","journal-title":"Rev Med Virol"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"28","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2334-13-28","article-title":"Epidemiology and clinical presentation of the four human parainfluenza virus types","volume":"13","author":"Liu","year":"2013","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1111\/irv.12838","article-title":"Epidemiology and seasonality of human parainfluenza serotypes 1-3 in Australian 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