Pediatr Infect Vaccine.  2016 Aug;23(2):87-93. 10.14776/piv.2016.23.2.87.

Influenza A Outbreak in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit During the 2011-2012 Influenza Season in Korea

• Son OS
• Oh CE
• Kong SG
• Jung YJ
• Hong YR

• KMID: 2353388
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14776/piv.2016.23.2.87

Abstract

PURPOSE
An outbreak of influenza virus is uncommon in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The clinical presentation of influenza virus infection in neonates is diverse. This study was aimed to report an outbreak of influenza A in a NICU and to investigate the clinical characteristics of influenza virus infection in neonates especially preterm infants during the 2011-2012 influenza season in Korea.
METHODS
We reviewed the medical records of 29 patients who were evaluated by respiratory virus multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at NICU of Kosin University Gospel Hospital during the 2011-2012 seasonal influenza outbreak in Korea.
RESULTS
Eleven patients (37.9%) were influenza A virus RT-PCR positive during the survey periods. They were all preterm infants and three of them had no symptoms. Eight patients had symptoms and it was fever (18%, 2/11), respiratory difficulty (72.7%, 8/11) without symptoms of upper respiratory infection, and gastrointestinal symptoms (27.3%, 3/11). The median duration of symptom was 5 days. There were differences of duration of admission at the test of respiratory RT-PCR, Clinical Risk Index for Babies (CRIB) score, use of mechanical ventilation, and use of dexamethasone before infection between influenza A virus RT-PCR positive and negative group. All 11 patients with influenza A were discharged without any complications.
CONCLUSIONS
The symptoms of influenza A virus infection in the preterm infants is nonspecific. Influenza A virus should be considered as a possible cause of infection in NICU during the influenza season in the community.

Keyword

Influenza A virus; Intensive Care Units; Neonatal; Outbreak

MeSH Terms

Dexamethasone
Fever
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Infant, Premature
Influenza A virus
Influenza, Human*
Intensive Care Units
Intensive Care, Neonatal*
Korea*
Medical Records
Orthomyxoviridae
Respiration, Artificial
Seasons*
Dexamethasone

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