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. 2022 Feb;102(2):115576.
doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2021.115576. Epub 2021 Oct 22.

Frequency of respiratory pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2 detected during COVID-19 testing

Matheus Negri Boschiero  1 , Aires Duarte  2 , Camila Vantini Capasso Palamim  1 , Alfonso Eduardo Alvarez  3 , Renan Marrichi Mauch  4 , Fernando Augusto Lima Marson  5
Affiliations

Frequency of respiratory pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2 detected during COVID-19 testing

Matheus Negri Boschiero et al. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

The frequencies of 19 respiratory pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2 were assessed in 6,"?>235 Brazilian individuals tested for COVID-19. Overall, only 83 individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 had codetection of other pathogens. Individuals infected with Rhinovirus/Enterovirus, Human Coronavirus (HCoV)-HKU1, HCoV-NL63, HPIV-4, Influenza A (-H1N1 and other subtypes), Influenza B, Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Human Metapneumovirus were less likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2. Infection with Streptococcys pyogenes, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Bordetella pertussis were more frequent in individuals who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, but without significancy. We found 150 individuals infected with ≥2 pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2, only 3 out of whom tested positive for COVID-19. The codetection frequency was low in individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. Other viral infections may provide a cross-reactive, protective immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Screening for bacterial respiratory infections upon COVID-19 testing is important to drive suitable therapeutic approaches and avoid unnecessary antibiotic prescription.

Keywords: COVID-19; Codetection; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Database management and statistical analysis protocol.
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence of different micro-organisms in individuals included in our cohort according to the COVID-19 status. In the graphic on the left, each bar represents the frequency of individuals who tested positive for the corresponding micro-organism. In the graphic on the right, the dots represent the odds ratio (OR) values for testing positive for COVID-19, and the extremities of each line represent the upper and lower limits of the 95% confidence interval. *, represents the pathogens with significative difference between the patients distributed by COVID-19 status – P-value <0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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