Title | Changes in the Epidemiology of Respiratory Pathogens in Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic. | ||
Author | Lamrani Hanchi, Asmae; Guennouni, Morad; Ben Houmich, Toufik; Echchakery, Mohamed; Draiss, Ghizlane; Rada, Noureddine; Younous, Said; Bouskraoui, Mohamed; Soraa, Nabila | ||
Journal | Pathogens | Publication Year/Month | 2022-Dec |
PMID | 36558876 | PMCID | PMC9781834 |
Affiliation + expend | 1.Laboratory of Microbiology, University Hospital Mohamed VI, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech 40030, Morocco. |
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant decrease in non-COVID-19 respiratory illnesses were observed, suggesting that the implementation of measures against COVID-19 affected the transmission of other respiratory pathogens. The aim of this study was to highlight the changes in the epidemiology of respiratory pathogens in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. All children with Severe Acute respiratory illness admitted to the pediatric departments between January 2018 and December 2021 with negative COVID-19 PCR, were enrolled. The detection of respiratory pathogens was made by the Film Array Respiratory Panel. A total of 902 respiratory specimens were tested. A significantly lower positivity rate during the COVID-19 period was found (p = 0.006), especially in infants under 6 months (p = 0.008). There was a substantial absence of detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Influenza A during the winter season following the outbreak of the pandemic (p < 0.05; p = 0.002 respectively). An inter-seasonal resurgence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus was noted. Human Rhinovirus was detected throughout the year, and more prevalent in winter during COVID-19 (p = 0.0002). These changes could be explained by the impact of the implementation of preventive measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the transmission of respiratory pathogens in children.