Brief report: Parainfluenza virus type 3 infections: Findings in sydney and some observations on variations in seasonality world‐wide

Abstract

Parainfluenza virus type 3 (Para 3) is an important childhood pathogen causing a significant amount of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants. Virus data were analysed over a twelve-year period (1978-1989), and a peak incidence of infection was observed in spring as in Houston, USA, unlike in the United Kingdom where summer epidemics appear to be the norm. The temperature ranges were analysed in the different study areas during Para 3 epidemics and similar ranges in temperature were noted which might provide an explanation for the apparently discordant findings in seasonality reported from different parts of the world.