In September, LAB-Net colleague Katherine Loens presented a poster at the European Society for Clinical Virology 2024 conference in Frankfurt, Germany. The study compared the prevalence of respiratory viruses in patients presenting with an acute respiratory tract infection detected by molecular assays before and during the COVID-19 pandemic on samples collected both in primary care and in a hospital setting.
Summary
- There were less respiratory viruses detected during the COVID pandemic when non-pharmaceutical interventions were introduced:
- Viruses such as influenza A, B and RSV were hardly or not at all detected during the COVID pandemic. If detected, it was at the end of the enrollment period.
- Seasonal coronaviruses, other respiratory viruses, and viral co-infections were detected less frequently.
- The prevalence of rhinoviruses increased during the pandemic in primary care patients.
These findings are consistent with several reports about a worldwide reduction in various respiratory viruses circulating (except for rhinoviruses) during the COVID pandemic and confirm the absence of influenza viruses and RSV. Non-pharmaceutical interventions may have contributed to the decreased circulation of normally-circulating respiratory viruses.
The poster
(click to view full size)
