Every fall and winter, viral respiratory illnesses like the common cold and seasonal flu keep kids out of school and social activities. But this year, more children than usual are ending up at emergency departments and hospitals.
Country estimates of the number of clinical pneumonia cases among children aged less than 5 years were assembled into six WHO regions (African Region, Region of the Americas, SouthEast Asia Region, European Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region and Western Pacific Region) as well as into developing and developed regions. These aggregated results together with estimates of new episodes per child-year and the number of severe episodes are shown in the table.
It is one of major public health interest to assess the distribution of these estimated 156 million episodes by regions and countries to assist planning for preventive interventions and case management at community and facility levels.
Identifying respiratory viral infections can be hard since seasonal ADV, RSV and Flu viruses are characterized by a sudden onset of fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, severe malaise (feeling unwell), sore throat and a runny nose.
Doctors may suspect respiratory infections based on the findings of a physical exam and the time of year the symptoms occur. During the exam, the doctor will listen to the lungs with a stethoscope to check for wheezing or other abnormal sounds. With similar symptoms for ADV, RSV and Flu A/B, healthcare professionals need to quickly determine which infection is potentially present. Characteristic testing helps healthcare professionals at the point of care to quickly diagnose and differentiate infections with any of the three respiratory viruses and aid in pursuing appropriate courses of action, including patient and pandemic management decisions. Also, it enables scaling up test capacities during flu season to meet the need for extensive testing during peak periods.
Xiamen Biotime offers convenient, affordable and rapid diagnostic Point-of-Care-Testing for respiratory infections such as ADV, RSV and Flu A/B.
The four main uses and purposes
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Protect others: virus-infected individual can be isolated to prevent the spread of the virus.
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Differentiation between ADV, RSV and Flu A/B: A single sample can be used to distinguish between ADV, RSV and Flu A/B for fast testing of symptomatic patients.
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Optimize patient care: The earliest starting treatment is when the medication is most effective.
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Rapid testing where it is needed most: The ability to conduct testing outside the lab at any time and anywhere to support testing strategies and increase capacity.
Conclusion
About 156 million new episodes of childhood clinical pneumonia occurred globally in 2000, more than 95% of them in developing countries. Of all the pneumonia cases occurring in those countries, 8.7% are severe enough to be life-threatening and require hospital admission. About 2 million pneumonia deaths occur each year in children aged less than 5 years, mainly in the African and South-East Asia Regions.
Reference
1. Bloom-Feshbach K, et al. (2013) A Global Comparative Review. PLoS ONE 8(2): e54445. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054445
2. ZHANG, L., et al., (2016). Epidemiology and Infection, 144(8), 1661-1672. doi:10.1017/S0950268815003246
3. Bloom-Feshbach K, et al. (2013) A Global Comparative Review. PLoS ONE 8(2): e54445. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054445
4. Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and microbiology of community-acquired pneumonia. http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/arh.2017.12.0
5. Bloom-Feshbach K, Alonso WJ, Charu V, Tamerius J, Simonsen L, et al. (2013) Latitudinal Variations in Seasonal Activity of Influenza and Respiratory
6. Syncytial Virus (RSV): A Global Comparative Review. PLoS ONE 8(2): e54445. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054445
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/adenovirus/index.html
8. WHO https://www.who.int/teams/health-product-policy-and-standards/standards-and-specifications/vaccine-standardization/respiratory-syncytial-virus-disease
9. Xiamen Biotime ADV Antigen Rapid Test https://www.xiamenbiotime.com/the-ADV-antigen-rapid-test_p86.html
10. Xiamen Biotime RSV Antigen Rapid Test https://www.xiamenbiotime.com/rsv-antigen-rapid-test_p85.html
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