Frontiers in Pediatrics (Jul 2022)
An Italian Multicenter Study on the Epidemiology of Respiratory Syncytial Virus During SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Hospitalized Children
- Raffaella Nenna,
- Luigi Matera,
- Amelia Licari,
- Amelia Licari,
- Sara Manti,
- Gaia Di Bella,
- Alessandra Pierangeli,
- Anna Teresa Palamara,
- Anna Teresa Palamara,
- Luana Nosetti,
- Salvatore Leonardi,
- Gian Luigi Marseglia,
- Gian Luigi Marseglia,
- Fabio Midulla,
- ICHRIS Group,
- Massimo Agosti,
- Guido Antonelli,
- Fausto Baldanti,
- Flaminia Bonci,
- Maria Giulia Conti,
- Greta Di Mattia,
- Guglielmo Ferrari,
- Antonella Frassanito,
- Ginevra Gargiulo,
- Federica Giardina,
- Manuela Lo Bianco,
- Fabrizio Maggi,
- Paola Magri,
- Enrica Mancino,
- Matteo Naso,
- Federica Novazzi,
- Giuseppe Oliveto,
- Giuseppe Fabio Parisi,
- Maria Papale,
- Paola Papoff,
- Laura Petrarca,
- Antonio Piralla,
- Santiago Presti,
- Gaia Vanzù
Affiliations
- Raffaella Nenna
- Department of Maternal Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Luigi Matera
- Department of Maternal Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Amelia Licari
- Pediatric Clinic, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy
- Amelia Licari
- Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Sara Manti
- Pediatric Respiratory and Cystic Fibrosis Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, San Marco Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
- Gaia Di Bella
- Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center, F. Del Ponte Hospital, Insubria University, Varese, Italy
- Alessandra Pierangeli
- Laboratory of Virology, Department of Molecular Medicine, Affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Anna Teresa Palamara
- Laboratory Affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Anna Teresa Palamara
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
- Luana Nosetti
- Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center, F. Del Ponte Hospital, Insubria University, Varese, Italy
- Salvatore Leonardi
- Pediatric Respiratory and Cystic Fibrosis Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, San Marco Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
- Gian Luigi Marseglia
- Pediatric Clinic, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy
- Gian Luigi Marseglia
- Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Fabio Midulla
- Department of Maternal Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- ICHRIS Group
- Massimo Agosti
- Guido Antonelli
- Fausto Baldanti
- Flaminia Bonci
- Maria Giulia Conti
- Greta Di Mattia
- Guglielmo Ferrari
- Antonella Frassanito
- Ginevra Gargiulo
- Federica Giardina
- Manuela Lo Bianco
- Fabrizio Maggi
- Paola Magri
- Enrica Mancino
- Matteo Naso
- Federica Novazzi
- Giuseppe Oliveto
- Giuseppe Fabio Parisi
- Maria Papale
- Paola Papoff
- Laura Petrarca
- Antonio Piralla
- Santiago Presti
- Gaia Vanzù
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.930281
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 10
Abstract
Since the beginning of 2020, a remarkably low incidence of respiratory virus hospitalizations has been reported worldwide. We prospectively evaluated 587 children, aged <12 years, admitted for respiratory tract infections from 1 September 2021 to 15 March 2022 in four Italian pediatric hospitals to assess the burden of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. At admission, a Clinical Respiratory Score was assigned and nasopharyngeal or nasal washing samples were collected and tested for respiratory viruses. Total admissions increased from the second half of October 2021 to the first half of December 2021 with a peak in early November 2021. The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) incidence curve coincided with the total hospitalizations curve, occurred earlier than in the pre-pandemic years, and showed an opposite trend with respect to the incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2. Our results demonstrated an early peak in pediatric hospitalizations for RSV. SARS-CoV-2 may exhibit a competitive pressure on other respiratory viruses, most notably RSV.
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