Symptoms for ARIs in children vary across age groups
01 Jul 2025
19 cases of severe influenza-associated complication or death (three deaths) were detected in children from May 5 to August 29.Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are associated with various symptoms across different age groups, according to a Korea study.
In children aged <5 years, respiratory symptoms showed a robust relationship with human adenovirus, human respiratory syncytial virus, and human rhinovirus, while those aged >5 years had more diverse patterns, with varied correlations.
Fever was a strong indicator of respiratory viruses, such as human adenovirus, human parainfluenza viruses, and human rhinovirus, in patients under the age of 5 years. For those over 5 years old, symptoms such as smell and taste disturbances were more common.
“These findings emphasize the correlation between various symptoms and ARIs across different age groups and may help to improve syndromic surveillance systems,” the investigators said.
This study used data from national Korean databases to analyse the associations between various symptoms and the reported ARI viruses in children aged <5 and >5 years.
"ARIs pose global health challenges, with major outbreaks affecting healthcare systems and resulting in significant morbidity and mortality,” according to the investigators.
An earlier study in Korea using data from the Korea Influenza and Respiratory Viruses Surveillance System from 2013 to 2015 found a positivity rate in nearly half of specimens (49.4 percent) collected from 36,915 patients with ARIs. [J Med Virol 2018;90:1177-1183]
The most common virus was human rhinovirus (15.6 percent), followed by influenza (14.6 percent), human adenovirus (7.5 percent), and human parainfluenza (5.8 percent). Most the ARIs were associated with symptoms of fever, cough, and runny nose.