Introduction:

Respiratory viral infection is the most frequent cause of medical appointment in the world. It can be associated with various clinical manifestations, from minor and self-limited upper airway cases to severe forms that compromise the lower airway such as community acquired pneumonia.

Objective:

Determine the prevalence of respiratory virus infection in the state of Boyacá 2016-2017.

Methodology:

This cross-sectional study included samples of patients that were sent by two primary data generating units to the sentinel surveillance program for respiratory viruses in the department of Boyacá. Indirect immunofluorescence screening was performed for the detection of influenza A and B viruses, parainfluenza 1, 2 and 3, adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumovirus.

Results:

614 samples were included. Virus positivity was 22.8%. The most identified respiratory viruses were respiratory syncytial virus 66.0%, followed by influenza 8.7%, metapneumovirus 8.6%, adenovirus 8.6% and parainfluenza 8.1%. There was co-infection by two viruses in 7.7% of the samples. Of the positive patients, 50.7% were female and 83.5% were under five years of age. The most frequent clinical data were cough with 89.2%, fever 87.8%, runny nose 58.5% and odynophagia with 56.4%.

Conclusions:

The surveillance developed by the Public Health Laboratory of Boyacá contributes to the knowledge of the circulation of viral agents and is important to initiate prevention, control and mitigation measures to reduce the impact of acute respiratory infection in the state.