Respiratory Viral Infection in Nursing Home Slovenia

Etiology, Frequency and Epidemiology of Respiratory Viral Infection in Nursing Home Residents

This study will be conducted in a 208-bed nursing home in Maribor. The investigators will observe a group of a 100 nursing-home residents and 50 health care workers- employees in the nursing home- in a six months period.Influenza vaccination status will be recorded in all participants at the beginning.

At the beginning and at the end of the study the blood samples for vitamin D concentration determination and nasopharyngeal swabs for molecular detection of respiratory viruses will taken in all of the participants.

The study will observe number of viral respiratory tract infection in participants and identify the viral etiology of infections during 6 months observational period.Nasopharyngeal swab and blood sample will be taken in each of the participant who will suffer an acute respiratory tract infection (upper or lower respiratory tract infection) and viral agents of respiratory tract diseases will be searched for. The investigators will try to detect different viral agents of respiratory tract infection: human rhinoviruses, enteroviruses, influenza A, B, parainfluenza 1-4, respiratory syncytial virus, human coronaviruses, human metapneumovirus, adenoviruses and human bocavirus with newer molecular methods (real-time polymerase chain reaction, real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) in nasopharyngeal swab and in blood sample of the participants.

During the study period the investigators will monitor the daily number of visitors (adults, preschool children and pupils) in each nursing home room. The epidemiological aspect of respiratory viral infection will be assessed.

Our study hypothesis is that lower respiratory tract infections in elderly can be caused by viruses other than influenza.

The investigators would like to know if hypovitaminosis D is a risk factor for respiratory tract infections in nursing home residents and employees.

The investigators would also like to know if the number of respiratory tract infections in elderly correlates with the number of visitors in nursing home, small children in particular.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Acute Viral Respiratory Tract Diseases

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 132

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Slovenia
  • Maribor, Slovenia, SI-2000
    • Nursing home Tezno

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Nursing home residents and employees of the nursing home

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• resident of the nursing home or employee ni the nursing home

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
nursing home residents; participants in this group are nursing home residents
Nursing home employees; Participants in this group are health care workers, employees at the nursing home

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of viral respiratory tract infection in participants according to etiology	Number of participants with upper and lower respiratory tract infection will be detected and etiology of viral infection will be identified	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Serum vitamine D concentration in participants	Serum concentration of vitamine D will be measured retrospectively from the blood samples taken at the beginning of the study and correlation between vitamine D concentration and the frequency of respiratory tract infection in participants will be made	6 months
Daily number of visitors in nursing home in correlation with the number of respiratory tract infection in residents	Daily number of visitors in each nursing home room will be counted and correlate with the number of respiratory tract infection in participants.	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Maribor
• Collaborators: University Medical Centre Ljubljana; University of Ljubljana School of Medicine, Slovenia; University Medical Centre Maribor
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nina Gorisek Miksic, MD, M.sc, University Medical Centre Maribor

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Beck-Sague C, Banerjee S, Jarvis WR. Infectious diseases and mortality among US nursing home residents. Am J Public Health. 1993 Dec;83(12):1739-42. doi: 10.2105/ajph.83.12.1739.
• Mahony JB. Detection of respiratory viruses by molecular methods. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2008 Oct;21(4):716-47. doi: 10.1128/CMR.00037-07.
• Pavia AT. Viral infections of the lower respiratory tract: old viruses, new viruses, and the role of diagnosis. Clin Infect Dis. 2011 May;52 Suppl 4(Suppl 4):S284-9. doi: 10.1093/cid/cir043.
• Jartti L, Langen H, Soderlund-Venermo M, Vuorinen T, Ruuskanen O, Jartti T. New respiratory viruses and the elderly. Open Respir Med J. 2011;5:61-9. doi: 10.2174/1874306401105010061. Epub 2011 Jul 6.
• Laaksi I, Ruohola JP, Mattila V, Auvinen A, Ylikomi T, Pihlajamaki H. Vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of acute respiratory tract infection: a randomized, double-blinded trial among young Finnish men. J Infect Dis. 2010 Sep 1;202(5):809-14. doi: 10.1086/654881. No abstract available.
• Ginde AA, Mansbach JM, Camargo CA Jr. Association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and upper respiratory tract infection in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Feb 23;169(4):384-90. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2008.560.
• Ursic T, Miksic NG, Lusa L, Strle F, Petrovec M. Viral respiratory infections in a nursing home: a six-month prospective study. BMC Infect Dis. 2016 Nov 4;16(1):637. doi: 10.1186/s12879-016-1962-8.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: December 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): November 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 1, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 5, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): December 6, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): November 30, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 28, 2012
• Last Verified: November 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infections; Virus Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases
• Other Study ID Numbers: DSO-2011-2012