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Rhinoviruses often cause mild, self-limited illness (the “common cold”), but the frequency with which they cause more-severe illness is not known. Investigators from the New Vaccine Surveillance Network recently evaluated the prevalence of rhinovirus infection among children hospitalized for acute respiratory illness in two counties in Tennessee and New York and used these figures to calculate population-based rates of rhinovirus-associated hospitalization.
From October 2000 through September 2001, children aged <5 years who were admitted with acute respiratory symptoms or fever had nasal and throat swabs performed for viral culture and PCR. Of the 592 children enrolled, 352 (61%) had at least one virus detected. Rhinoviruses were the most c…