Extracellular Hsp72, an endogenous DAMP, is released by virally infected airway epithelial cells and activates neutrophils via Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of 25 critically ill children with acute respiratory failure and 7 healthy controls with post-operative respiratory failure.

Demographic	Control (n = 7)	Bacterial pneumonia (n = 8)	RSV LRTI Alone (n = 12)	RSV LRTI + Pneumonia (n = 5)
Age, median (IQR)	16 mos (13–18)*	4 mos (1–6)	2 mos (1–4)	2 mos (1–2)
Gender, M:F	4:3	5:3	4:8	2:3
PRISM-II score, mean ± SEM	0.43 ± 1.0*	5.3 ± 1.2	3.6 ± 1.0	7.6 ± 1.2
Ventilator Days, median (IQR)	7 (5–7)	5 (4–8)	7 (6–8)	8 (7–10)

Tracheal aspirate samples were isolated from healthy controls, critically ill children with acute respiratory failure secondary to either bacterial pneumonia, RSV lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) or RSV LRTI complicated by bacterial pneumonia. Age in months, gender, Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM)-II scores and median ventilator days are shown. * p < 0.05 compared to critically ill children with bacterial pneumonia, RSV LRTI, or RSV LRTI + bacterial pneumonia.

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