Seasonality of Respiratory Viruses at Northern Latitudes

Hawkes, Michael; Lee, Bonita E.; Kanji, Jamil N; Zelyas, Nathan; Wong, Kenny; Barton, Michelle; Mukhi, Shamir; Robinson, Joan

doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.24650

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…This last point may account for the high level of activity at the end of the year, with many people choosing to be screened before family gatherings. Conversely, the lower use of GPs and pediatricians relative to 2019 may be explained by a number of factors, including the adoption of barrier measures, which probably limited the spread of winter infectious diseases [ 31 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underuse of primary healthcare in France during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 according to individual characteristics: a national observational study

et al. 2022

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Background The organization of healthcare systems changed significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact on the use of primary care during various key periods in 2020 has been little studied. Methods Using individual data from the national health database, we compared the numbers of people with at least one consultation, deaths, the total number of consultations for the population of mainland France (64.3 million) and the mean number of consultations per person (differentiating between teleconsultations and consultations in person) between 2019 and 2020. We performed analyses by week, by lockdown period (March 17 to May 10, and October 30 to December 14 [less strict]), and for the entire year. Analyses were stratified for age, sex, deprivation index, epidemic level, and disease. Results During the first lockdown, 26% of the population consulted a general practitioner (GP) at least once (-34% relative to 2019), 7.4% consulted a nurse (-28%), 1.6% a physiotherapist (-80%), and 5% a dentist (-95%). For specialists, consultations were down 82% for ophthalmologists and 37% for psychiatrists. The deficit was smaller for specialties making significant use of teleconsultations. During the second lockdown, the number of consultations was close to that in 2019, except for GPs (-7%), pediatricians (-8%), and nurses (+ 39%). Nurses had already seen a smaller increase in weekly consultations during the summer, following their authorization to perform COVID-19 screening tests. The decrease in the annual number of consultations was largest for dentists (-17%), physiotherapists (-14%), and many specialists (approximately 10%). The mean number of consultations per person was slightly lower for the various specialties, particularly for nurses (15.1 vs. 18.6). The decrease in the number of consultations was largest for children and adolescents (GPs: -10%, dentists: -13%). A smaller decrease was observed for patients with chronic diseases and with increasing age. There were 9% excess deaths, mostly in individuals over 60 years of age. Conclusions There was a marked decrease in primary care consultations in France, especially during the first lockdown, despite strong teleconsultation activity, with differences according to age and healthcare profession. The impact of this decrease in care on morbidity and mortality merits further investigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underuse of primary healthcare in France during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 according to individual characteristics: a national observational study

et al. 2022

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“…Surprisingly but similarly to others, we identified a rapid increase in respiratory infections at the beginning of June of the second pandemic year mainly due to RSV infections including bronchiolitis. RSV usually does not occur during summer but in fall and winter [ 22 ]; however, it was completely absent in fall of 2020. Delay of the RSV season into spring 2021 could be attributable to social distancing and hygiene measures in 2020 leading to reduced exposure of the immune system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pediatric hospital admissions, case severity, and length of hospital stay during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary children’s hospital in Switzerland

Bögli

Güsewell

Strässle³

et al. 2022

Infection

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Background SARS-CoV-2 directly contributes to the burden of respiratory disease in children, but indirect effects of protective measures also need to be considered to assess the overall impact of the pandemic on children's health. Methods We retrospectively compared pre-pandemic and pandemic data of main admission diagnoses, sorted by ICD-10 diagnosis groups, in a tertiary children's hospital in Switzerland from 2017 until August 2021. Hospital admission rates, severity, and length of stay (LOS) of the individual ICD-10 groups during the pandemic were compared with three previous years accounting for seasonal differences. Results Among 20,168 hospital admissions (n = 13′950 in pre-pandemic years; n = 3′120 in 2020 and n = 3′098 in 2021), there were significant decreases in numbers of admissions for respiratory diseases during the early pandemic with a rebound in summer 2021. During the pandemic, admissions for non-respiratory infections, neoplasms, and skin diseases decreased but increased for trauma. Particularly, a drop in admissions for different respiratory infections [e.g. respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and bronchiolitis] was pronounced after introduction of strict measures, but admissions increased again after restrictions were loosened. While disease severity was lower for respiratory and neurologic diseases and bronchiolitis throughout the pandemic, gastrointestinal disease admissions had longer LOS and in the first pandemic year greater severity. For RSV and pneumonia, disease severity and LOS were higher in the first pandemic year and lower in the second pandemic year. Conclusion The pandemic and associated protective measures had a significant effect on respiratory and non-respiratory admissions, particularly with decreases in hospital admissions for respiratory infections followed by a rebound after loosening of measures.

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“…Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are seasonal and common; an average person will experience various episodes over a year. RTIs also have a higher incidence in cold countries than in tropical countries [ 14 ], as cold temperatures and low humidity are associated with an increase in their frequency [ 15 ]. RTIs caused by the prevalent respiratory viruses, such as influenza virus (IFV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rhinovirus (RV), are normally self-limited in healthy individuals, receding in a couple of weeks.…”

Section: Associations Of Respiratory Microbiota Composition With Resp...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of respiratory microbiota in the protection against viral diseases: respiratory commensal bacteria as next-generation probiotics for COVID-19

Andrade

Cuadrat

Tonetti

et al. 2022

Bioscience of Microbiota, Food and Health

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On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and imposed the biggest public health challenge for our civilization, with unforeseen impacts in the subsequent years. Similar to other respiratory infections, COVID-19 is associated with significant changes in the composition of the upper respiratory tract microbiome. Studies have pointed to a significant reduction of diversity and richness of the respiratory microbiota in COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, it has been suggested that Prevotella , Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus are associated with severe COVID-19 cases, while Dolosigranulum and Corynebacterium are significantly more abundant in asymptomatic subjects or with mild disease. These results have stimulated the search for new microorganisms from the respiratory microbiota with probiotic properties that could alleviate symptoms and even help in the fight against COVID-19. To date, the potential positive effects of probiotics in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 pandemics have been extrapolated from studies carried out with other viral pathogens, such as influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus. However, scientific evidence has started to emerge demonstrating the capacity of immunomodulatory bacteria to beneficially influence the resistance against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we review the scientific knowledge regarding the role of the respiratory microbiota in viral infections in general and in the infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 in particular. In addition, the scientific work that supports the use of immunomodulatory probiotic microorganisms as beneficial tools to reduce the severity of respiratory viral infections is also reviewed. In particular, our recent studies that evaluated the role of immunomodulatory Dolosigranulum pigrum strains in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection are highlighted.

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Seasonality of Respiratory Viruses at Northern Latitudes

Cited by 30 publications

References 28 publications

Underuse of primary healthcare in France during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 according to individual characteristics: a national observational study

Underuse of primary healthcare in France during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 according to individual characteristics: a national observational study

Pediatric hospital admissions, case severity, and length of hospital stay during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary children’s hospital in Switzerland

The role of respiratory microbiota in the protection against viral diseases: respiratory commensal bacteria as next-generation probiotics for COVID-19

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