Please cite this paper as: Launes et al. (2012) Viral load at diagnosis and influenza A H1N1 (2009) disease severity in children. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 6(601), e89–e92. To assess viral load at diagnosis (VLAD) as a biomarker of novel influenza disease severity, epidemiologic and clinical data of admitted patients <18 years old with Influenza A H1N1 (2009) infection and respiratory symptoms were prospectively collected in a single pediatric tertiary hospital, from weeks 30–51 of 2009. Seventy patients were included. VLAD in children who had symptoms for ≥5 days was an accurate parameter distinguishing the patients who required mechanical ventilation (MV) from those who did not required it (area under the ROC curve: 0·73; P = 0·03). Having <4·5 log10 copies/ml with ≥5 days of symptoms was associated with a lower risk of requiring MV.
【저자키워드】 mechanical ventilation, Influenza, pediatrics, Viral load, respiratory insufficiency,