Figure 2.

Expression levels of the MMP‐8 and MMP‐9 genes in PBMCs from children with viral lower respiratory tract infections. Relative gene expression levels (mean ± standard error) of MMP‐8 (A) and MMP‐9 (B) in PBMCs from children during acute RSV positive and RSV negative viral lower respiratory tract infections and after recovery of infection. Relative gene expression levels of MMP‐8 (C) and MMP‐9 (D) for RSV positive children with mild, moderate, and severe disease. Mann–Whitney U‐test was performed to compare children infected by RSV and other viruses. Paired analyses (Wilcoxon) were performed to compare acute and recovery samples. A two‐sided value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.