Pediatric viral respiratory infections in Saudi Arabia: Narrative and descriptive revisits for the etiology, epidemiology and clinical phenotypes with diagnostic challenges highlights

Objective: To review, describe and narrate the etiology, epidemiology and clinical phenotypes of pediatric viral respiratory infections (PVRIs) in Saudi Arabia (KSA) Design: A comprehensive electronic search of the literature for PVRIs in KSA Setting: An electronic search in PubMed, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and MEDLINE Subjects: Articles published up till 2019 and those that dealt with the detection of viruses from clinical specimens Interventions: Retrieved articles were subtly studied Data obtained included the virus reported, year of publication, diagnostics, region or city, research purpose, the season of infection and hospital of admission (if any) Main outcome measure(s): The etiology, epidemiological features and clinical phenotypes associated with the PVRIs in each study were recorded and analyzed Result(s): The first report for PVRIs in KSA was in 1988 Up to 2019, 35 studies were published in the topic The highest number of reports was for respiratory syncytial viruses (n=17, 48 6%), while bocaviruses are the least reported viruses (n=3, 8 6%) Clinical presentations reported suggested both upper and lower respiratory tract infections PVRIs were reported from Riyadh, AlQassim, Jazan, Jeddah, Dammam, Najran, Taif and Abha Immunofluorescence assays, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, polymerase chain reaction and virus isolation were employed Conclusion(s): In this review communication, we described the etiology, epidemiology and clinical phenotypes of PVRIs in KSA reported from 1988 through 2019 We also showed some challenges associated with the diagnostic protocols employed Directions for future research in this topic, particularly towards diagnostics and preventive medicine, were also recommended