IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i18p9525-d632403.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Circulation of Respiratory Viruses in Hospitalized Adults before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brescia, Italy: A Retrospective Study

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Antonia De Francesco

    (Institute of Microbiology, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
    Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, ASST-Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy)

  • Caterina Pollara

    (Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, ASST-Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy)

  • Franco Gargiulo

    (Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, ASST-Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy)

  • Mauro Giacomelli

    (Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, ASST-Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy)

  • Arnaldo Caruso

    (Institute of Microbiology, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
    Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, ASST-Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy)

Abstract

Different preventive public health measures were adopted globally to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2, such as hand hygiene and the use of masks, travel restrictions, social distance actions such as the closure of schools and workplaces, case and contact tracing, quarantine and lockdown. These measures, in particular physical distancing and the use of masks, might have contributed to containing the spread of other respiratory viruses that occurs principally by contact and droplet routes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of different respiratory viruses (influenza viruses A and B, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza viruses 1, 2, 3 and 4, rhinovirus, adenovirus, metapneumovirus and human coronaviruses) after one year of the pandemic. Furthermore, another aim was to evaluate the possible impact of these non-pharmaceutical measures on the circulation of seasonal respiratory viruses. This single center study was conducted between January 2017–February 2020 (pre-pandemic period) and March 2020–May 2021 (pandemic period). All adults >18 years with respiratory symptoms and tested for respiratory pathogens were included in the study. Nucleic acid detection of all respiratory viruses was performed by multiplex real time PCR. Our results show that the test positivity for influenza A and B, metapneumovirus, parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and human coronaviruses decreased with statistical significance during the pandemic. Contrary to this, for adenovirus the decrease was not statistically significant. Conversely, a statistically significant increase was detected for rhinovirus. Coinfections between different respiratory viruses were observed during the pre-pandemic period, while the only coinfection detected during pandemic was between SARS-CoV-2 and rhinovirus. To understand how the preventive strategies against SARS-CoV-2 might alter the transmission dynamics and epidemic patterns of respiratory viruses is fundamental to guide future preventive recommendations.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Antonia De Francesco & Caterina Pollara & Franco Gargiulo & Mauro Giacomelli & Arnaldo Caruso, 2021. "Circulation of Respiratory Viruses in Hospitalized Adults before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brescia, Italy: A Retrospective Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-10, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9525-:d:632403
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9525/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9525/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chih-Chia Hsieh & Chih-Hao Lin & William Yu Chung Wang & David J. Pauleen & Jengchung Victor Chen, 2020. "The Outcome and Implications of Public Precautionary Measures in Taiwan–Declining Respiratory Disease Cases in the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-10, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giuseppe Sberna & Eleonora Lalle & Maria Beatrice Valli & Licia Bordi & Anna Rosa Garbuglia & Alessandra Amendola, 2022. "Changes in the Circulation of Common Respiratory Pathogens among Hospitalized Patients with Influenza-like Illnesses in the Lazio Region (Italy) during Fall Season of the Past Three Years," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-10, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chien-Lung Chan & Chi-Chang Chang, 2020. "Big Data, Decision Models, and Public Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-7, September.
    2. Luigi Matera & Raffaella Nenna & Francesca Ardenti Morini & Giuseppe Banderali & Mauro Calvani & Matteo Calvi & Giorgio Cozzi & Raffaele Falsaperla & Roberto Guidi & Ahmad Kantar & Marcello Lanari & R, 2021. "Effects of Relaxed Lockdown on Pediatric ER Visits during SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-11, September.
    3. Chien-Lung Chan & Chi-Chang Chang, 2022. "Big Data, Decision Models, and Public Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-9, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9525-:d:632403. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.