Table 1.
Distribution of respiratory viruses in children ≤ 5 years according to age group, gender and ethnicity
| Age group, n (%) | Total | Mean age ± SD (yrs) | Male/female ratio** | Ethnicity, n (%) ** | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 6 months | 6-12 months | 1-5 yrs | Malay | Chinese | Indian | Others | |||||
| Samples (% of total) | Samples received | 3319 (32.3) | 4241 (41.3) | 2709 (26.4) | 10269 | 1.14 ± 1.06 | 1.5 | 6337 (62.0) | 2081 (20.4) | 1596 (15.6) | 199 (1.9) |
| Positive samples | 906 (33.5) | 1157 (42.7) | 645 (23.8) | 2708 | 1.06 ± 1.00 | 1.49 | 1640 (61.5) | 548 (20.6) | 426 (16.0) | 52 (2.0) | |
| Respiratory virus identified (% of total positive samples within age/ethnic group) |
RSV | 737 (81.3) | 810 (70.0) | 366 (56.7) | 1913 (70.6) | 0.96 ± 0.92* | 1.51 | 1137 (69.3) | 407 (74.3) | 326 (76.5) | 33 (63.5) |
| Parainfluenza | 95 (10.5) | 170 (14.7) | 92 (14.3) | 357 (13.2) | 1.10 ± 0.92 | 1.6 | 211 (12.9) | 83 (15.1) | 48 (11.3) | 7 (13.5) | |
| Parainfluenza 1 | 24 (2.6) | 44 (3.8) | 25 (3.9) | 93 (3.4) | 1.19 ± 1.00 | 1.51 | 60 (3.7) | 17 (3.1) | 15 (3.5) | 1 (1.9) | |
| Parainfluenza 2 | 2 (0.2) | 15 (1.3) | 6 (0.9) | 23 (0.8) | 0.84 ± 0.86 | 1.75 | 16 (1.0) | 2 (0.4) | 1 (0.2) | 1 (1.9) | |
| Parainfluenza 3 | 50 (5.5) | 90 (7.8) | 54 (8.4) | 194 (7.2) | 1.11 ± 0.90 | 1.49 | 112 (6.8) | 49 (8.9) | 25 (5.9) | 3 (5.8) | |
| Influenza | 50 (5.5) | 117 (10.1) | 130 (20.2) | 297 (11.0) | 1.51 ± 1.10* | 1.2 | 192 (11.7) | 44 (8.0) | 40 (9.4) | 8 (15.4) | |
| Influenza A | 42 (4.6) | 92 (8.0) | 99 (15.3) | 233 (8.6) | 1.50 ± 1.10* | 1.15 | 149 (9.1) | 37 (6.8) | 30 (7.0) | 7 (13.5) | |
| Influenza B | 8 (0.9) | 25 (2.2) | 31 (4.8) | 64 (2.4) | 1.56 ± 1.09* | 1.42 | 43 (2.6) | 7 (1.3) | 10 (2.3) | 1 (1.9) | |
| Adenovirus | 24 (2.6) | 60 (5.2) | 57 (8.8) | 141 (5.2) | 1.37 ± 1.04 | 1.75 | 100 (6.1) | 14 (2.6) | 12 (2.8) | 4 (7.7) | |
SD, standard deviation
* p < 0.05
** Of the 10269 total number of samples received, 85 and 56 were missing gender and ethnicity data, respectively.