Prevalence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Adenovirus, and Rhinovirus in Patients With Flu-like Symptoms Admitted to Mazandaran Province Health Centers in North of Iran: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: The main viral causes of acute respiratory diseases (ARDs) include influenza viruses A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus (ADV), rhinovirus, and parainfluenza viruses (PIV). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of RSV, ADV, and rhinovirus in patients with flu-like symptoms admitted to Mazandaran Province health centers in northern Iran from December 21, 2018, to March 21, 2019. Materials and Methods: The nasopharyngeal samples were collected from the patients with flu-like symptoms admitted to the health centers. ADV, RSV, influenza virus, and human rhinovirus (HRV) were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse-transcription PCR. Then, the products were visualized by gel electrophoresis on 1.5% agarose under UV light. Results: In the present study, 26 samples (26%) contained ADV, while 9% and 5% of the samples were positive for RSV and HRV, respectively. Also, co-infection with the influenza virus was identified in 12 patients, while 8(66.66%) patients had a co-infection of influenza virus and ADV. Also, 2(16.66%) co-infected patients had RSV and influenza virus. This rate of co-infection was found about HRV and influenza virus. There were no triple or more co-infections in this study. Moreover, one death was reported among the patients with co-infection of influenza virus and adenovirus, while other coin-fected patients were cured. Conclusion: The findings will help public health officials and physicians to prepare strategies to control respiratory virus infections. Further molecular monitoring of respiratory viruses should be performed to investigate their epidemiological and clinical features.