IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i18p9550-d632865.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Disappearance of Respiratory Viruses in Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Chiara Vittucci

    (General Pediatrics Unit, Pediatric Emergency and General Pediatrics Department, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

  • Livia Piccioni

    (Unit of Microbiology and Diagnostic Immunology, Department of Diagnostic and Laboratory Medicine, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

  • Luana Coltella

    (Unit of Microbiology and Diagnostic Immunology, Department of Diagnostic and Laboratory Medicine, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

  • Claudia Ciarlitto

    (General Pediatrics Unit, Pediatric Emergency and General Pediatrics Department, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

  • Livia Antilici

    (General Pediatrics Unit, Pediatric Emergency and General Pediatrics Department, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

  • Elena Bozzola

    (General Pediatrics Unit, Pediatric Emergency and General Pediatrics Department, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

  • Fabio Midulla

    (Department of Maternal Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Paolo Palma

    (Clinical Immunology and Vaccinology Unit, Academic Department of Pediatrics, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

  • Carlo Federico Perno

    (Unit of Microbiology and Diagnostic Immunology, Department of Diagnostic and Laboratory Medicine, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

  • Alberto Villani

    (General Pediatrics Unit, Pediatric Emergency and General Pediatrics Department, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Background: Social distancing measures are used to reduce the spreading of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of local restrictions on the transmission of respiratory virus infections. Methods: we retrospectively analyzed the nasopharyngeal samples of all patients (0–18 years old) admitted with respiratory symptoms in a large Italian tertiary hospital during the last three seasons from 2018 to 2021. Results: A strong reduction in all viral respiratory infections was observed in the last season (2020–2021) compared to the two previous seasons (−79.69% and −80.66%, respectively). In particular, we found that during the epidemic period 2018–2019 and 2019–2020, the total number of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases was, respectively 726 and 689, while in the last season a total of five cases was detected. In the first months of 2018–2019 and 2019–2020, the total flu infections were 240 and 354, respectively, while in the last season we did not detect any influenza virus. As other viruses, the presence of Rhinovirus declined, but to a lesser extent: a total of 488 cases were assessed compared to the 1030 and 1165 cases of the two previous respective epidemic seasons. Conclusions: Public health interventions and distancing (including continuous use of face masks) settled to counter the pandemic spread of COVID-19 had a macroscopic impact on all respiratory virus transmission and related diseases, with a partial exception of Rhinovirus. The absence of viruses’ circulation could result in a lack of immunity and increased susceptibility to serious infections in the next seasons.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Chiara Vittucci & Livia Piccioni & Luana Coltella & Claudia Ciarlitto & Livia Antilici & Elena Bozzola & Fabio Midulla & Paolo Palma & Carlo Federico Perno & Alberto Villani, 2021. "The Disappearance of Respiratory Viruses in Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-8, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9550-:d:632865
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9550/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9550/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luigi Matera & Raffaella Nenna & Valentina Rizzo & Francesca Ardenti Morini & Giuseppe Banderali & Mauro Calvani & Matteo Calvi & Giorgio Cozzi & Elisabetta Fabiani & Raffaele Falsaperla & Ahmad Kanta, 2020. "SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Impact on Pediatric Emergency Rooms: A Multicenter Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-12, November.
    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. Ayodeji E. Ogunbayo & Milton T. Mogotsi & Hlengiwe Sondlane & Kelebogile R. Nkwadipo & Saheed Sabiu & Martin M. Nyaga, 2022. "Pathogen Profile of Children Hospitalised with Severe Acute Respiratory Infections during COVID-19 Pandemic in the Free State Province, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-13, August.
    2. Elena Bozzola & Sarah Barni & Alberto Villani, 2022. "Respiratory Syncytial Virus Pediatric Hospitalization in the COVID-19 Era," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-9, November.
    3. 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.
    4. Elena Bozzola, 2021. "Respiratory Syncytial Virus Resurgence in Italy: The Need to Protect All Neonates and Young Infants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-3, December.

    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. 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.

    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:9550-:d:632865. 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.