TY - JOUR T1 - Nasopharingeal aspirate value in pediatric chronic lower respiratory tract illness JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.01783-2017 SP - 1701783 AU - Francesca Lunardi AU - Stefania Edith Vuljan AU - Egle Perissinotto AU - Federica Pezzuto AU - Sandro Malacrida AU - Samuela Bugin AU - Ilaria Bertozzi AU - Deborah Snijders AU - Stefania Rizzo AU - Angelo Barbato AU - Fiorella Calabrese Y1 - 2018/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2018/03/15/13993003.01783-2017.abstract N2 - Respiratory viruses are a common cause of illness in children and are responsible for high morbidity and hospitalization [1]. The role of infectious agents in chronic/recurrent lower respiratory illness (C/R LRTI) is not clearly defined, whereas it is well known in acute forms and in exacerbation of respiratory diseases [2–4]. We have previously demonstrated a high frequency of viruses, particularly human Rhinovirus (HRV), in children affected by C/R LRTI whose bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) showed changes in cellularity and inflammatory cytokines [5]. BAL is the gold standard for sensitive detection of infective agents of the LRT, even if invasive. Nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA), nasopharyngeal swab and nasal wash have been investigated to find an easier and more reliable technique for viral diagnosis but never in children affected by different forms of C/R LRTI [6–8]. Our study aimed to investigate the presence of viral genomes testing the value of NPA in comparison to BAL in a large paediatric population affected by different forms of C/R LRTI.NPA as a sensitive and specific surrogate tool for the detection of respiratory viruses in different forms of C/RLRTIFootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.Conflict of interest: Dr. LUNARDI has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. PERISSINOTTO has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. PEZZUTO has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. MALACRIDA has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. BUGIN has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. BERTOZZI has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. SNIJDERS has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. RIZZO has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. BARBATO has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. CALABRESE has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. VULJAN has nothing to disclose. ER -