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. 2021 Jul;15(4):488-494.
doi: 10.1111/irv.12854. Epub 2021 Mar 14.

Increased risk of rhinovirus infection in children during the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic

Emi Takashita  1 , Chiharu Kawakami  2 , Tomoko Momoki  2 , Miwako Saikusa  2 , Kouhei Shimizu  2 , Hiroki Ozawa  2 , Makoto Kumazaki  2 , Shuzo Usuku  2 , Nobuko Tanaka  2 , Ichiro Okubo  2 , Hiroko Morita  1 , Shiho Nagata  1 , Shinji Watanabe  1 , Hideki Hasegawa  1 , Yoshihiro Kawaoka  3   4   5
Affiliations

Increased risk of rhinovirus infection in children during the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic

Emi Takashita et al. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first detected in Japan in January 2020 and has spread throughout the country. Previous studies have reported that viral interference among influenza virus, rhinovirus, and other respiratory viruses can affect viral infections at the host and population level.

Methods: To investigate the impact of COVID-19 on influenza and other respiratory virus infections, we analyzed clinical specimens collected from 2244 patients in Japan with respiratory diseases between January 2018 and September 2020.

Results: The frequency of influenza and other respiratory viruses (coxsackievirus A and B; echovirus; enterovirus; human coronavirus 229E, HKU1, NL63, and OC43; human metapneumovirus; human parainfluenza virus 1, 2, 3, and 4; human parechovirus; human respiratory syncytial virus; human adenovirus; human bocavirus; human parvovirus B19; herpes simplex virus type 1; and varicella-zoster virus) was appreciably reduced among all patients during the COVID-19 pandemic except for that of rhinovirus in children younger than 10 years, which was appreciably increased. COVID-19 has not spread among this age group, suggesting an increased risk of rhinovirus infection in children.

Conclusions: Rhinovirus infections should be continuously monitored to understand their increased risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and viral interference with SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; influenza; rhinovirus; viral interference.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Detection of influenza virus, rhinovirus, and other respiratory viruses from January 2018 through September 2020 in Yokohama, Japan. Influenza virus (n = 592), rhinovirus (n = 155), and other respiratory viruses (coxsackievirus A and B; echovirus; enterovirus; human coronavirus 229E, HKU1, NL63, and OC43; human metapneumovirus; human parainfluenza virus 1, 2, 3, and 4; human parechovirus; human respiratory syncytial virus; human adenovirus; human bocavirus; human parvovirus B19; herpes simplex virus type 1; and varicella‐zoster virus; n = 475) were detected from 2244 patients with respiratory diseases as part of the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases and the Active Epidemiological Investigation for COVID‐19 in Japan. Gray bars indicate the number of COVID‐19 patients reported by local government officials from February through September, 2020 (n = 3131)
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Comparison of detection of respiratory viruses from January 2018 through September 2020 in Yokohama, Japan. Coxsackievirus A and B (n = 76); human metapneumovirus (n = 105); human parainfluenza virus 1, 2, 3, and 4 (n = 56); human respiratory syncytial virus (n = 84); and human adenovirus (n = 69) were detected from 2244 patients with respiratory diseases as part of the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases and the Active Epidemiological Investigation for COVID‐19 in Japan
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Detection of influenza virus and rhinovirus by age group from January 2018 through September 2020 in Yokohama, Japan. Influenza virus and rhinovirus were detected from children younger than 10 y (A; n = 394) and patients aged 10 y or older (B; n = 345) with respiratory diseases as part of the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases and the Active Epidemiological Investigation for COVID‐19 in Japan. Gray bars indicate the number of COVID‐19 patients (A; n = 117, B; n = 3007) reported by local government officials from February 2020 through September 2020. Seven COVID‐19 patients were excluded because no age information was available
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