Where have all the viruses gone? Disappearance of seasonal respiratory viruses during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Tang, Julian W.; Bialasiewicz, Seweryn; Dwyer, Dominic E.; Dilcher, Meik; Tellier, Raymond; Taylor, Janette; Hua, Harry; Jennings, Lance C.; Kok, Jen; Levy, Avram; Smith, David W.; Barr, Ian G.; Sullivan, Sheena G.

doi:10.1002/jmv.26964

Cited by 112 publications

(117 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…Interestingly, our findings showed that the most common seasonal viruses (e.g., RSV, Influenza, Parainfluenza and Metapneumoviruses) were strongly curtailed in COVID-19 season. Similar results have been described by recent studies worldwide ( 16 , 19 , 20 , 29 ). We speculate that seasonal respiratory viruses with an incubation period shorter than SARS-CoV-2 may have been influenced more and earlier by lockdown and distancing measures.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Disappearance of Seasonal Respiratory Viruses in Children Under Two Years Old During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Monocentric Retrospective Study in Milan, Italy

et al. 2021

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Background: The containment measures adopted during COVID-19 pandemic have influenced the epidemiology of other respiratory viruses.Aim: We analyzed the modification of the incidence and etiology of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in young children during COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Case series of all children under 2 years old hospitalized at a tertiary care Hospital in the Center of Milan, Italy diagnosed with LRTIs in three consecutive winter seasons (from the 1st of November to the last day of February in 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021). We compared the number of hospitalizations and viral detections in the 2020/2021 with the average of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 (pre-COVID-19) using the Poisson distribution.Results: we enrolled 178 patients (66 from 2018/2019, 96 from 2019/2020, 16 from 2020/2021) 94 males (53%) and 84 females (47%), with a median (IQR) age of 5 (2–13) months. The number of hospitalizations during the 2020/2021 season was 80% lower than the average of the pre-COVID-19 seasons (16 vs. 81, p<0.001). Overall, 171 (96%) patient's nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) detected at least one virus (110, 64%, single-detection, 61, 36%, co-detections). In 2020/2021 we observed the disappearance of Respiratory Syncytial virus (0 vs. 54, p < 0.001), Influenza virus (0 vs. 6.5, p = 0.002), Metapneumovirus (0 vs. 8, p < 0.001), Parainfluenza viruses (0 vs. 3.5, p = 0.03) and a significant reduction of Adenovirus (2 vs. 7, p = 0.03), Bocavirus (2 vs. 7.5, p = 0.02) and Enterovirus (1 vs. 5, p = 0.04). No significant difference was found for Rhinoviruses (14 cases vs. 17, p = 0.2), other Coronaviruses (0 vs. 2, p = 0.1), and Cytomegalovirus (1 vs. 1, p = 0.7).Conclusions: We observed a striking reduction in hospitalizations due to LRTIs and a modification of the etiology, with enveloped viruses mainly affected.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Disappearance of Seasonal Respiratory Viruses in Children Under Two Years Old During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Monocentric Retrospective Study in Milan, Italy

et al. 2021

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“…The set of NPIs that were applied differed across European countries and over time. The NPIs were not only effective in reducing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but also led to a decline in most seasonal respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) [ 2 ].…”

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confidence: 99%

Low levels of respiratory syncytial virus activity in Europe during the 2020/21 season: what can we expect in the coming summer and autumn/winter?

et al. 2021

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Since the introduction of non-pharmacological interventions to control COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity in Europe has been limited. Surveillance data for 17 countries showed delayed RSV epidemics in France (≥ 12 w) and Iceland (≥ 4 w) during the 2020/21 season. RSV cases (predominantly small children) in France and Iceland were older compared with previous seasons. We hypothesise that future RSV epidemic(s) could start outside the usual autumn/winter season and be larger than expected. Year-round surveillance of RSV is of critical importance.

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“…For now, it has also been reported of co-infections of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory pathogens (7)(8)(9)(10)(11). There are some studies that revealed a general reduction in the prevalence of other seasonal respiratory viruses that are attributed to the preventive measures for COVID-19 (12)(13)(14). Moreover, the impact of the national based mitigation strategies including lockdowns, suspension of the schools, mandatory facial mask usage also which would change the viral pathogens circulating during the pandemic is not obvious.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of spreading viruses during COVID-19 pandemic: Effect of mitigation strategies

Kıymet

Böncüoğlu

Şahinkaya

et al. 2021

American Journal of Infection Control

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Background The study aimed to evaluate the distribution of circulating respiratory viral pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2 during the first year of the coronavirus disease–2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with especially focusing on the effects of the national-based mitigation strategies. Methods This single-center study was conducted between March 11, 2020-March 11, 2021. All children who were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 and other common respiratory viral pathogens were included in the study. Results A total of 995 children with suspected COVID-19 admitted to the study center. Of these, 513 patients who were tested by PCR for both SARS-CoV-2 and common respiratory viral pathogens were included in the final analysis. Two hundred ninety-five patients were (57.5%) male. The median age was 3 years of age (27 days-17 years). A total of 321 viral pathogens identified in 310 (n:310/513, 60.4%) patients, and 11 of them (n:11/310, 3.5%) had co-detection with more than one virus. The most common detected virus was rhinovirus (n:156/513, 30.4%), and SARS-CoV-2 (n:122/513, 23.8%) followed by RSV (n:18/513, 3.5%). The influenza virus was detected in two patients (0.4%). A total of 193 patients were negative for both SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens. Conclusion There is a decline in the frequency of all viral pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 in correlation with the national-based mitigation strategies against COVID-19 during the pandemic.

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Where have all the viruses gone? Disappearance of seasonal respiratory viruses during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Cited by 112 publications

References 13 publications

Disappearance of Seasonal Respiratory Viruses in Children Under Two Years Old During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Monocentric Retrospective Study in Milan, Italy

Disappearance of Seasonal Respiratory Viruses in Children Under Two Years Old During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Monocentric Retrospective Study in Milan, Italy

Low levels of respiratory syncytial virus activity in Europe during the 2020/21 season: what can we expect in the coming summer and autumn/winter?

Distribution of spreading viruses during COVID-19 pandemic: Effect of mitigation strategies

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