Portugal CAA, de Araújo Castro I, Prates MCM, et al. - Researchers evaluated the role of inflammatory markers and respiratory viruses in acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) severity in this study including 79 children < 5 years-old. Among participants, levels of interleukin(IL)-33, soluble suppression of tumorigenicity (sST)2, IL-1ß, tumor necrosis factor α, IL-4, IL-6 and IL- 8 and types of respiratory viruses were assessed at the first and fifth days following hospital admission. The requirement for mechanical ventilation defined disease severity. They found no links between virus type, viral load or co-detections and severity of disease. A higher risk for mechanical ventilation was observed in relation to the identification of IL-33 and sST2 in nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) on admission. Longer hospital length of stay was experienced in relation to a rise in sST2 NPA levels from Day 1 to Day 5. Findings revealed the link of an exacerbated local activation of the IL-33/ST2 axis and persistently raised sST2 levels over time, with the severity of viral ALRI in children.