Heliyon (Mar 2023)

Epidemiology of respiratory tract infections using multiplex PCR in a Japanese acute care hospital during the COVID19 pandemic

  • Daisuke Kitagawa,
  • Taito Kitano,
  • Madoka Furumori,
  • Soma Suzuki,
  • Yui Shintani,
  • Yuki Suzuki,
  • Akiyo Nakano,
  • Ryuichi Nakano,
  • Atsuko Nishiyama,
  • Sayaka Yoshida,
  • Hisakazu Yano,
  • Koichi Maeda,
  • Fumihiko Nakamura

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 3
p. e14424

Abstract

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Introduction: We aimed to investigate the epidemiology of respiratory infections by season and age during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Japanese acute care hospital using multiplex PCR testing. Methods: We detected 21 pathogens in specimens from outpatients with respiratory symptoms at the Nara Prefecture General Medical Center using the multiplex PCR-based FilmArray Respiratory Panel 2.1 (bioMérieux). Results: Of the 3177 cases, 1215 (38.2%) were infected with at least one causative virus, and 1641 viruses were detected. The most common viruses detected were human rhinovirus/enterovirus (n = 655) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (n = 264). Additionally, 321 (10.1%) of these cases were infected with two or more overlapping viruses. There were 23 cases of co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses. In the winter months from December 2020 to March 2021, the number of detected viruses was relatively low, followed by the surge of human rhinovirus/enterovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and parainfluenza type 3 in the spring and summer of 2021. While the number of human rhinovirus/entero-virus remained relatively high after the 2021 summer, the number of other viruses detected since September 2021 was low. After December 2021, the number of SARS-CoV-2 increased rapidly. Conclusions: Continuous monitoring of the epidemiology of respiratory infection is important to understand the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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