“RESPIRATORY VIRAL INFECTION: AN UNDERRATED ENTITY THAT NEED TO CONSIDER IN MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE EXACERBATION OF COPD”

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) is one of the most common cause of hospital admission. It causes signicant morbidity, mortality and inexorable decline in ling function. Many exacerbations are believed to be due to upper and/ lower respiratory tract viral infections, but the incidence of these infections in patients with COPD is still undetermined. Objectives of the study are-(a) To nd out the viral etiology in patients having acute exacerbation of COPD. (b) To correlate the severity of COPD patients having exacerbations with viral etiology. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 70 AECOPD patients admitted in department of Respiratory Medicine, Institute of Respiratory Diseases, SMS Medical College, Jaipur during July 2019–June 2020. Demographic and clinical parameters were recorded from each patient during admission. Twin nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs were collected and are tested for Respiratory viruses via RT-PCR. RESULTS: Respiratory viruses were detected in 15 of 70 (21.42%) patients during exacerbations of COPD. The viruses detected were inuenza (10%), rhinovirus (5.71%), adenovirus (4.29%) and RSV (1.42%). Majority of the patients had exacerbations in severe COPD subgroup, had duration of hospital stay of more than or equal to 5 days, had one episode of acute exacerbation per year and 5, 9, 11 respiratory viruses were detected in this group respectively. CONCLUSION: Viral infections seem to contribute to the exacerbations of COPD in our settings and should be strongly considered in the management of such patients. Considering appropriate antiviral therapy can timely reduce morbidity in an event of an inuenza viral exacerbation.