The beginning of a new era: systematic testing for pathogens causing acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) in children.

In poor countries, ARI are one of the leading causes of death (Table 1). Optimal medical management of ARI is, therefore, of the highest importance everywhere in theworld. The utmost importance of ARI in children is in sharp contrast to the little knowledge we have about the etiology, epidemiology, and clinical consequences such as development of asthma following respiratory infections. While ARI are comparatively simple to diagnose clinically by investigating the history of the patient and by physical examination, clinical findings alone do not allow to identify theoffendingmicroorganism in an individual case. We regularly encounter the peak of the RSV season in the middle of the influenza season; andoften–basedononlypartial knowledge of the epidemiological situation and the spectrum of diseases caused by both organisms –