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A total of 102,600 upper respiratory infections (URI) were recorded among young military conscripts in the Finnish Defence Forces during the study period from October 1991 to March 1994. This period covered three outbreaks caused by H3N2‐subtype influenza A virus and one outbreak of influenza B. During the 1991/92 outbreak caused by A/Beijing/353/89‐like virus, the calculated influenza A incidence was 2,206/10,000 men. During the 1992/93 outbreak when influenza B was the predominant virus, a new drift variant of influenza A that belonged to the lineage of A/Beijing/32/92‐like and A/Shangdong/9/93‐like viruses circulated but the incidence of influenza A was not more than 1,044/10,000. A higher incidence, 2,810/10,000, was recorded during the 1993/94 outbreak, when the circulating virus was similar to the 1992/93 virus antigenically and with regard to haemagglutinin and neuraminidase (NA) gene sequences. Crossreactive haemagglutination‐inhibition antibodies induced in 1991/92 probably were sufficient to restrict the epidemic activity in 1992/93 but no longer in 1993/94. Furthermore, during the 1991/92 outbreak, some of the A/Beijing/353/89‐like viruses already had shared the NA sequence markers characteristic of the viruses in 1992/93 and 1993/94, which may also have strengthened protection in 1992/93. J. Med. Virol. 72:275–280, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the presence of different viruses in middle ear fluids and nasopharyngeal aspirates in young children with acute otitis media. Two cohorts of children (N = 329 and 611) were followed from 2 to 24 months of age in Finland in two prospective studies (Finnish Otitis Media Cohort Study and Finnish Otitis Media Vaccine Trial). During the study period, nasopharyngeal and middle ear fluid specimens for each acute otitis media event were examined for eight (Cohort Study) or ten (Vaccine Trial) common respiratory viruses; adenoviruses, influenza viruses A and B, parainfluenza viruses 1, 2, and 3, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), enteroviruses, parechoviruses, and rhinoviruses. Picornaviruses (rhinoviruses, enteroviruses, and parechoviruses) were determined by reverse transcription PCR while antigen detection was used for the other viruses. A virus was present in either nasopharyngeal or middle ear specimen in 54% of events in the first cohort and in 67% of events in the second. Rhinoviruses formed the most common virus group detected (41–32%), followed by enteroviruses (25%, sought in the second cohort only) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (10%). All the other viruses represented jointly 8–10% of the events. In conclusion, using the methods described in this study, a specific virus infection was diagnosed in two thirds of all acute otitis media events in young children. Picornavirus RNA was detected in association with more than a half of all acute otitis media events. The use of PCR‐based methods for the other respiratory viruses might have increased further the overall virus detection rate in acute otitis media. J. Med. Virol. 72:241–248, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The occurrence of rhinovirus infections in a cohort of 329 children during the first 2 years of life was determined by virus detection and serological methods. Rhinovirus detection on nasopharyngeal aspirates and middle ear fluids comprised a combination of virus isolation in HeLa Ohio cells and a reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR)‐hybridization assay on the inoculated cell cultures. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected when the child was referred to the study clinic because of respiratory symptoms. Nasopharyngeal aspirates and middle ear fluids were collected after clinical diagnosis of an acute otitis media. Complement‐fixing antibodies to rhinovirus were determined from scheduled serum specimens collected at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age and from paired sera taken in the cases of acute otitis media. Rhinovirus infections were shown to be common in infants, 24% of the children had complement‐fixing antibodies at the age of 6 months and 22% had had at least one rhinovirus episode indicated by virus detection. At the age of 2 years, 91.3% of the children had rhinovirus‐specific antibodies, while 79% of the children had experienced rhinovirus infection as judged by the virus detection tests. However, the complement‐fixation assay was poor as a diagnostic test. Of 458 acute otitis media episodes studied, 41% were shown to be associated with a rhinovirus by RT‐PCR‐hybridization, while significant fourfold rise in rhinoviral antibodies was detected only in 7% of the cases. J. Med. Virol. 66:263–268, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Five methods were evaluated for the detection of adenovirus directly from nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA), including conventional and rapid virus culture, two antigen detection tests, and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). NPA specimens were obtained from 269 military conscripts suffering from an acute respiratory infection during an adenovirus outbreak. In 133 cases, paired blood specimens were also available. Virus culture followed by a hexon‐specific immunofluorescence revealed 159 (59%) adenovirus‐positive specimens and it was used as a reference method. In comparison to conventional culture, a rapid 2‐day culture method had a sensitivity of 71%. The sensitivities of an enzyme immunoassay and time‐resolved fluoroimmunoassay were 53% and 46%, respectively. The PCR method employing Ad7 hexon‐specific primers showed a high sensitivity of 94%, and revealed an additional 15 (6%) specimens that could not be confirmed by virus culture. Serology based on significant adenovirus antibody rises had a diagnostic efficacy nearly equal to the virus culture and PCR methods, but a relatively high number of discordant results was found. The present study demonstrates that PCR is a very sensitive rapid diagnostic method for detecting adenovirus specific DNA in NPA specimens of adults. J. Med. Virol. 59:66–72, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.