Authors:	Stamm, Paul Sagoschen, Ingo Weise, Kerstin Plachter, Bodo Münzel, Thomas Gori, Tommaso Vosseler, Markus
Title:	Influenza and RSV incidence during COVID-19 pandemic : an observational study from in-hospital point-of-care testing
Online publication date:	1-Sep-2022
Year of first publication:	2021
Language:	english
Abstract:	The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has forced the implementation of unprecedented public health measures strategies which might also have a significant impact on the spreading of other viral pathogens such as influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) . The present study compares the incidences of the most relevant respiratory viruses before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in emergency room patients. We analyzed the results of in total 14,946 polymerase chain reaction point-of-care tests (POCT-PCR) for Influenza A, Influenza B, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 in an adult and a pediatric emergency room between December 1, 2018 and March 31, 2021. Despite a fivefold increase in the number of tests performed, the positivity rate for Influenza A dropped from 19.32% (165 positives of 854 tests in 2018/19), 14.57% (149 positives of 1023 in 2019–20) to 0% (0 positives of 4915 tests) in 2020/21. In analogy, the positivity rate for Influenza B and RSV dropped from 0.35 to 1.47%, respectively, 10.65–21.08% to 0% for both in 2020/21. The positivity rate for SARS-CoV2 reached 9.74% (110 of 1129 tests performed) during the so-called second wave in December 2020. Compared to the two previous years, seasonal influenza and RSV incidence was eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Corona-related measures and human behavior patterns could lead to a significant decline or even complete suppression of other respiratory viruses such as influenza and RSV.
DDC:	610 Medizin 610 Medical sciences
Institution:	Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Department:	FB 04 Medizin
Place:	Mainz
ROR:	https://ror.org/023b0x485
DOI:	http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-7661
Version:	Published version
Publication type:	Zeitschriftenaufsatz
License:	CC BY
Information on rights of use:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Journal:	Medical microbiology and immunology 210
Pages or article number:	277 282
Publisher:	Springer
Publisher place:	Berlin u.a.
Issue date:	2021
ISSN:	1432-1831
Publisher DOI:	10.1007/s00430-021-00720-7
Appears in collections:	JGU-Publikationen