LAUSR

Abstract Introduction According to CDC USA February 2016 document for outpatient illness surveillance, Influenza like illness (ILI) is defined as fever (temperature of 100°F [37.8°C] or greater) and a cough and/or a sore throat without a known cause other than influenza. Most of the laboratories do not test for other known causes of ILI, especially in situation like epidemics. Objective In the present study we detected Influenza and other respiratory viruses in the cases presenting as ILI during a flu epidemic in North India from January to April 2015. Materials and methods Total 200 cases, 50 from each month, that were negative for all types of influenza viruses, were randomly selected and tested by Multiplex Real- Time PCR for detection of other respiratory viruses; rhinovirus, adenovirus, Respiratory Syncitial virus (RSV), Human Boca virus (hBoV), Para Influenza viruses 1,2,3, and 4 (PIV 1, PIV 2, PIV 3, PIV 4), measles virus and human Meta Pneumo virus (hMPV). Results A total of 28/200 cases (14%) showed presence of other respiratory viruses. Rhinovirus was most commonly detected, (17/200; 8.5%) followed by adenovirus (7/200, 3.5%), RSV (5/200, 2.5%), hBoV (2/200, 1%), and PIV-3 (2/200, 1%). PIV 1, 2, 4, measles and hMPV were not detected in any of the samples. Conclusion Even during an epidemic other respiratory viruses contribute substantially to ILI