{ "abstract": "ObjectiveTo investigate the pathogen spectrum and epidemiological characteristics of hospitalized children with bronchiolitis admitted to Hebei Children's Hospital, and to analyze the relationship between different pathogens or mixed infections and clinical recovery speed, providing a clinical reference for the prevention and treatment of infant bronchiolitis in northern China.MethodsBased on the electronic medical record system, the clinical data of 132 children hospitalized with bronchiolitis at Hebei Children's Hospital from September 2022 to February 2025 were retrospectively analyzed. Sputum or nasopharyngeal secretion specimens were collected within 24 h of admission, and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect common respiratory pathogens. Patients were divided into a pathogen-tested group (112 cases) and a pathogen-untested group (20 cases). The tested group comprised a positive subgroup of 99 cases (77 single infections and 22 mixed infections) and a negative subgroup of 13 cases. Clinical recovery evaluation: clinical recovery speed was evaluated using the hospital length of stay (LOS); patients were categorized into a rapid-recovery group (LOS ≤ 5 days) and a delayed-recovery group (LOS > 5 days). To avoid selection bias arising from missing pathogen data, all analyses examining the association between pathogen profile and LOS were restricted to the 112 pathogen-tested patients; descriptive demographic characteristics (Section 3.1) were based on the full cohort of 132 patients. A subsequent sensitivity analysis (Section 3.1.1) found no statistically significant differences between the 20 untested and 112 tested patients in sex, age, LOS, or rapid-/delayed-recovery group composition, suggesting a limited risk of residual selection bias from this approach.ResultsAmong the 132 children with bronchiolitis, the median age was 6.6 months and the median LOS was 6.0 days. In the tested group (112 cases), the overall positive rate was 88.4% (99/112), with single infection accounting for 68.8% (77/112), mixed infection accounting for 19.6% (22/112), and negative results accounting for 11.6% (13/112). The top three detected pathogens were respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, 54.5%), human rhinovirus (HRV, 31.3%), and parainfluenza virus (PIV, 6.3%), with RSV/HRV (11 cases) being the most common mixed infection. RSV and mixed infections exhibited a bimodal epidemic feature during the study period: in addition to the traditional winter-spring heating season (November to March of the following year), an atypical off-season epidemic peak emerged in May, with a single-month RSV detection rate of 82.1% (23/28). In contrast, hospitalized cases were relatively sparse in other months of the summer-autumn season (June to October). Because case ascertainment was not a complete census in every year and sample sizes were limited, the year-to-year stability of this off-season peak was not confirmed; see Section 2.4 and the Discussion. Within the 112 pathogen-tested patients (rapid-recovery group, n = 52; delayed-recovery group, n = 60), infants < 6 months accounted for 55.8% (29/52) of the rapid-recovery group versus 41.7% (25/60) of the delayed-recovery group (P = 0.1363); RSV positivity was 50.0% (26/52) vs. 58.3% (35/60) (P = 0.3771), HRV positivity was 30.8% (16/52) vs. 31.7% (19/60) (P = 0.9186), and mixed-infection rate was 13.5% (7/52) vs. 25.0% (15/60) (P = 0.1253); none of these differences reached statistical significance.ConclusionRSV and HRV are the core dominant pathogens of hospitalized bronchiolitis in this region. In addition to the traditional winter-spring heating-season peak, an atypical off-season epidemic peak occurred in May, although its year-to-year stability requires further confirmation.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Department of Respiratory Medicine III, Hebei Children’s Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China", "Pulmonary Function Laboratory, Hebei Children’s Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China", "Hebei Clinical Research Center for Children’s Health and Diseases, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China", "Hebei Key Laboratory of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. Hebei Children's Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China", "Pediatric Research Institute, Hebei Children’s Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China", "Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hebei Children's Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China" ], "article_type": null, "arxiv": null, "author_total": 16, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Xiaojuan Liu" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Xiaojuan Liu" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Xiaojuan Liu" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Xiaojuan Liu" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Jianghong Yan" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Jianghong Yan" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Jianghong Yan" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Beibei Cao" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Beibei Cao" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Yingxue Wang" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Yingxue Wang" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Hui Xu" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Hui Xu" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Yingqian Zhang" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Yingqian Zhang" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Yingqian Zhang" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2hq43kqry5dmy.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.3389/fped.2026.1936138", "fulltext_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2026.1936138/full", "id": "2hq43kqry5dmy", "issns": [ "2296-2360" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2026.1936138", "language": "en", "licence": "CC-BY", "licence_label": "CC BY", "licence_source": "journal", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "lcc", "RJ1-570" ] ], "openalex": null, "pdf_url": null, "pmcid": null, "pmid": null, "published": "2026-11-12", "publisher": "Frontiers Media S.A.", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2hq43kqry5dmy.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-11-12T14:58:37Z", "native_id": "141154d5dad74f33966335b626e5dcf4", "source": "doaj", "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2026.1936138" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "lcc:RJ1-570", "subfield": "reproductive-child" } ], "title": "Pathogen spectrum and its association with hospital length of stay in 112 pathogen-tested children with bronchiolitis: a retrospective study from a cohort of 132 hospitalized cases in Hebei Children's Hospital", "title_text": "Pathogen spectrum and its association with hospital length of stay in 112 pathogen-tested children with bronchiolitis: a retrospective study from a cohort of 132 hospitalized cases in Hebei Children's Hospital", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-11-13T15:20:59Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2hq43kqry5dmy", "venue": "Frontiers in Pediatrics", "versions": [] }