Study design and population
This was a sub-study of our main prospective viral surveillance study of
hospitalized children at a large government hospital, Al Bashir, in
Amman, Jordan 11.
Subjects were enrolled five days a week between March 16, 2010 and March
31, 2013 within 48 hours of hospital admission. Eligible subjects were
children less than two years admitted to the hospital with fever and/or
respiratory symptoms plus one or more of the following admission
diagnoses: acute respiratory illness, asthma exacerbation,
bronchiolitis, bronchopneumonia, croup, pneumonia, pneumonitis,
pertussis or pertussis-like cough, upper respiratory infection, cystic
fibrosis exacerbation, respiratory distress, apnea, febrile seizure,
fever without localizing signs, and sepsis rule-out. Children were
excluded if they had fever with neutropenia, or if they were newborns
who were never discharged from the hospital. This study was approved by
the Institutional Review Boards at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
(VUMC), Jordan University and the Jordanian Ministry of Health. Written
informed consent was obtained from parents or guardians of all
participants.