Rhinovirus infections in chronic bronchitis: isolation of eight possibly new rhinovirus serotypes

Abstract

Rhinoviruses were isolated in 14 of 87 respiratory episodes that occurred in 24 of 44 patients with chronic bronchitis studied for periods up to 2½ yr. Thirteen of these infections were associated with exacerbations of bronchitis. The virus in seven rhinovirus-positive sputum specimens was assayed, and detailed studies of the neutralising antibody responses of the bronchitics to their rhinovirus infections were made. The results suggest that rhinoviruses multiply in the lower respiratory tract and probably stimulate a greater antibody response than that found in non-bronchitic adults. There was no evidence that the rhinoviruses found in the bronchitics were different from those circulating in the normal population. Three of the rhinoviruses belonged to known serotypes and ten of the remaining 11 belonged to eight other types. Representative strains of these eight types have been characterised and submitted as possibly new rhinovirus serotypes.