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Pediatric Health and Respiratory Diseases / Respiratory Viral Infections Research / Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections · Journal article
Frontiers in Pediatrics · August 14, 2026
Early or partial results. Treat as a signal, not a conclusion.
This is a large retrospective single-centre study of respiratory pathogen detection in children presenting to a Chinese hospital between 2023 and 2025, characterizing the frequency, seasonal variation, age distribution, and co-infection patterns of 13 respiratory pathogens. The findings are descriptive and are intended to inform local clinical diagnosis and prevention strategy; they do not establish comparative efficacy, causation, or generalizability beyond the studied population.
Retrospective cohort study. Children under 18 years receiving multiplex PCR testing for respiratory pathogens at West China Second University Hospital between 2023 and 2025. Eligibility criteria and testing indication not specified.. n = 32,125. West China Second University Hospital, China.
Total pathogen positive rate was 63.4% (32,125 children tested) Single infections comprised 49.8% and co-infections 13.6% of positive cases Human rhinovirus ranked first at 22.9% positivity, followed by respiratory syncytial virus at 15.2%
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Clinicians should recognize seasonal and age-specific patterns of respiratory pathogen prevalence in this Chinese population to guide diagnostic suspicion and targeted empiric management. However, the findings are hospital-based and may not generalize to other regions or care settings, and the high detection of rhinovirus warrants awareness of asymptomatic carriage.
This is a single-centre retrospective descriptive study reporting epidemiological frequencies and patterns without a control group, comparison arm, or hypothesis testing; it characterizes disease occurrence but does not establish causation, prognosis, or intervention efficacy.
As stated by the source record.
Quoted from the source exactly as published.
Clinicians should recognize seasonal and age-specific patterns of respiratory pathogen prevalence in this Chinese population to guide diagnostic suspicion and targeted empiric management. However, the findings are hospital-based and may not generalize to other regions or care settings, and the high detection of rhinovirus warrants awareness of asymptomatic carriage.
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Background Pediatric acute respiratory tract infections bring heavy global disease burden. Clarifying post-pandemic epidemiological features guides clinical management and public health prevention. Methods This retrospective study enrolled patients under 18 years receiving 13-pathogen multiplex PCR at West China Second University Hospital from 2023 to 2025. We extracted laboratory data and calculated pathogen positivity, single/co-infection proportions. Stratified analyses by year, season, age and sex and statistical collation of co-infection patterns were completed. Results In total, 32,125 children were included. The total pathogen positive rate reached 63.4%, including 49.8% single infection and 13.6% co-infection dominated by dual infection. Human rhinovirus (22.9%) ranked first, followed by respiratory syncytial virus (15.2%). Pathogens varied obviously across seasons and ages: HRV surged in spring and autumn; parainfluenza, adenovirus and coronavirus prevailed in summer; syncytial virus and influenza peaked in winter. Respiratory syncytial virus mainly affected infants; rhinovirus and parainfluenza were prevalent in toddlers and preschoolers; Mycoplasma pneumoniae rose with age and peaked among school-age children. Dual infection occupied nearly all co-infections; the top non-influenza combinations were HRSV–HRV and HRV–HAdV. Infections with three or more pathogens were rare. Conclusions HRV and HRSV dominated pediatric respiratory pathogens with obvious seasonal and age clustering. Most co-infections occurred in winter and young kids. HRV detection requires careful explanation for potential asymptomatic carriage. Local epidemiological characteristics should inform age-and seasonal-targeted diagnosis and targeted prevention including HRSV prevention.
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