Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Oct 18:9:740785.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.740785. eCollection 2021.

Respiratory Infections in Children During a Covid-19 Pandemic Winter

Susanne C Diesner-Treiber  1   2 , Peter Voitl  1   2   3 , Julian J M Voitl  1 , Klara Langer  1 , Ulrike Kuzio  1 , Angela Riepl  1 , Pia Patel  1 , Alexandra Mühl-Riegler  4 , Bernhard Mühl  4
Affiliations

Respiratory Infections in Children During a Covid-19 Pandemic Winter

Susanne C Diesner-Treiber et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic compelled the implementation of measures to curb the SARS CoV-2 spread, such as social distancing, wearing FFP2 masks, and frequent hand hygiene. One anticipated ramification of these measures was the containment of other pathogens. This prospective, longitudinal study aimed to investigate the spread of 22 common seasonal non-SARS-CoV-2 pathogens, such as RSV and influenza, among children with an acute respiratory infection during a pandemic. Methods: Three hundred ninety children (0-24 months) admitted to Vienna's largest pediatric center with acute respiratory infection (November 2020-April 2021) were included in this study. The researchers tested nasal swabs for 22 respiratory pathogens by Multiplex PCR, documented clinical features and treatment, and evaluated data for a potential connection with the lockdown measures then in force. Results: The 448 smears revealed the most common pathogens to be rhino-/enterovirus (41.4%), adenovirus (2.2%), and coronavirus NL63 (13.6%). While the first two were active throughout the entire season, coronaviruses peaked in the first trimester of 2021 in conjunction with the lift of the lockdown period (OR 4.371, 95%CI 2.34-8.136, P < 0.001). RSV, metapneumovirus, and influenza were absent. Conclusion: This prospective, longitudinal study shows that Covid-19 measures suppressed the seasonal activity of influenza, RSV, and metapneumovirus among very young children, but not of rhino-/enterovirus and adenovirus. The 0-24 month-olds are considered the lowest risk group and were only indirectly affected by the public health measures. Lockdowns were negatively associated with coronaviruses infections.

Keywords: Covid-19 mitigating measures; SARS-CoV-2; multiplex PCR; pediatrics; respiratory pathogens.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence (%) of pathogens detected in single and co-infections by Multiplex PCR.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of detected pathogens per calendar week. Total number of positive results per week are shown. White bars represent the number of negative results. The Covid-19 regulations are depicted as lockdown (red) or lockdown-free period (blue).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bourgeois FT, Valim C, Wei JC, McAdam AJ, Mandl KD. Influenza and other respiratory virus-related emergency department visits among young children. Pediatrics. (2006) 118:e1-8. 10.1542/peds.2005-2248 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ramaekers K, Keyaerts E, Rector A, Borremans A, Beuselinck K, Lagrou K, et al. . Prevalence and seasonality of six respiratory viruses during five consecutive epidemic seasons in Belgium. J Clin Virol. (2017) 94:72-8. 10.1016/j.jcv.2017.07.011 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhu G, Xu D, Zhang Y, Wang T, Zhang L, Gu W, et al. . Epidemiological characteristics of four common respiratory viral infections in children. Virol J. (2021) 18:10. 10.1186/s12985-020-01475-y - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Moriyama M, Hugentobler WJ, Iwasaki A. Seasonality of respiratory viral infections. Annu Rev Virol. (2020) 7:83-101. 10.1146/annurev-virology-012420-022445 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Department of Virology MUoV . Influenza - Projekt Diagnostisches Influenzanetzwerk Österreich (DINÖ). Available online at: https://www.virologie.meduniwien.ac.at/wissenschaft-forschung/virus-epid... (accessed May 3, 2021).