Rhinovirus (RhV) infection in hospitalised adults

<bold>Introduction:</bold> A range of respiratory viruses are associated with hospitalisation in adults. Rhinovirus (RhV) is not routinely tested for despite its prevalence. <bold>Aim:</bold> Assess impact of RhV compared to other viruses in hospitalised adults. <bold>Methods:</bold> UNIVERSAL is a prospective multicentre cohort study in adults admitted with respiratory viral infection. We compared clinical characteristics between RhV and other viruses. <bold>Result:</bold> 475 adults were recruited,100 with RhV and 375 other viruses (SARS-CoV-2 n =145 30.5%, Influenza n=91 19.2%, RSV n=86 18.1%, miscellaneous (HMPV, HPIV, HAdV HCoV) n=53 11.2%). Co-infection was excluded. RhV patients were younger (median age 63 vs 68 P=.004), with lower Charlson comorbidity scores (median 4 vs 5 p=.042), 52.0% of RhV patients were male vs 48.7% in non RhV patients p=0.574. Only 45.0% of patients with RhV were aged >65 vs 60.5% in other viruses, p=.006. The proportion of patients with COPD, heart failure, or diabetes was comparable between groups. Asthma (44.40 % vs 36.7% p=.079) was more prevalent in RhV patients but not statistically significant. Total white cells (11.3 vs 9.4 p<.001), neutrophil (8.8 vs 7.3 p<.001), lymphocyte (1.2 vs 1.0 p=0.10) and eosinophil counts were higher (0.1 vs 0.0 p<.001) in RhV vs other viruses (all median values, units 10*9/L). CRP was lower (median 30 vs 52mg/L p =.022) in RhV patients vs other viruses. Admission oxygen requirement (59.0% vs 57.6% p=.0821) and radiologically reported pneumonia (23.0% vs 26.9% p=.157) were comparable and there was no difference in length of stay (4 days p=0.879). <bold>Conclusion:</bold> RhV is associated with comparable illness severity to other respiratory viruses despite affecting relatively younger and less multimorbid patients. Novel therapies are required.