IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-30485-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Off-season RSV epidemics in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictions

Author

Listed:
  • John-Sebastian Eden

    (Westmead Institute for Medical Research
    The University of Sydney)

  • Chisha Sikazwe

    (PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Department of Microbiology
    The University of Western Australia)

  • Ruopeng Xie

    (The University of Hong Kong
    The University of Hong Kong)

  • Yi-Mo Deng

    (Royal Melbourne Hospital, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
    University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity)

  • Sheena G. Sullivan

    (Royal Melbourne Hospital, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
    University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity)

  • Alice Michie

    (The University of Western Australia)

  • Avram Levy

    (PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Department of Microbiology)

  • Elena Cutmore

    (Westmead Institute for Medical Research
    The University of Sydney)

  • Christopher C. Blyth

    (PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Department of Microbiology
    The University of Western Australia
    Perth Children’s Hospital
    Telethon Kids Institute)

  • Philip N. Britton

    (The University of Sydney
    The Children’s Hospital at Westmead)

  • Nigel Crawford

    (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
    University of Melbourne & Royal Children’s Hospital
    Immunisation Service, Royal Children’s Hospital)

  • Xiaomin Dong

    (Royal Melbourne Hospital, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
    University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity)

  • Dominic E. Dwyer

    (The University of Sydney
    Westmead Hospital)

  • Kimberly M. Edwards

    (The University of Hong Kong
    The University of Hong Kong)

  • Bethany A. Horsburgh

    (Westmead Institute for Medical Research
    The University of Sydney)

  • David Foley

    (PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Department of Microbiology)

  • Karina Kennedy

    (Canberra Hospital)

  • Cara Minney-Smith

    (PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Department of Microbiology)

  • David Speers

    (PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Department of Microbiology
    The University of Western Australia)

  • Rachel L. Tulloch

    (Westmead Institute for Medical Research
    The University of Sydney)

  • Edward C. Holmes

    (The University of Sydney)

  • Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran

    (The University of Hong Kong
    The University of Hong Kong)

  • David W. Smith

    (PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Department of Microbiology
    The University of Western Australia)

  • Jen Kok

    (Westmead Hospital)

  • Ian G. Barr

    (Royal Melbourne Hospital, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
    University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity)

Abstract

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of acute respiratory infection with the most severe disease in the young and elderly. Non-pharmaceutical interventions and travel restrictions for controlling COVID-19 have impacted the circulation of most respiratory viruses including RSV globally, particularly in Australia, where during 2020 the normal winter epidemics were notably absent. However, in late 2020, unprecedented widespread RSV outbreaks occurred, beginning in spring, and extending into summer across two widely separated regions of the Australian continent, New South Wales (NSW) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in the east, and Western Australia. Through genomic sequencing we reveal a major reduction in RSV genetic diversity following COVID-19 emergence with two genetically distinct RSV-A clades circulating cryptically, likely localised for several months prior to an epidemic surge in cases upon relaxation of COVID-19 control measures. The NSW/ACT clade subsequently spread to the neighbouring state of Victoria and to cause extensive outbreaks and hospitalisations in early 2021. These findings highlight the need for continued surveillance and sequencing of RSV and other respiratory viruses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as mitigation measures may disrupt seasonal patterns, causing larger or more severe outbreaks.

Suggested Citation

  • John-Sebastian Eden & Chisha Sikazwe & Ruopeng Xie & Yi-Mo Deng & Sheena G. Sullivan & Alice Michie & Avram Levy & Elena Cutmore & Christopher C. Blyth & Philip N. Britton & Nigel Crawford & Xiaomin D, 2022. "Off-season RSV epidemics in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-30485-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30485-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-30485-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-30485-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Estefany Rios-Guzman & Lacy M. Simons & Taylor J. Dean & Francesca Agnes & Anna Pawlowski & Arghavan Alisoltanidehkordi & Hannah H. Nam & Michael G. Ison & Egon A. Ozer & Ramon Lorenzo-Redondo & Judd , 2024. "Deviations in RSV epidemiological patterns and population structures in the United States following the COVID-19 pandemic," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Amanda C. Perofsky & Chelsea L. Hansen & Roy Burstein & Shanda Boyle & Robin Prentice & Cooper Marshall & David Reinhart & Ben Capodanno & Melissa Truong & Kristen Schwabe-Fry & Kayla Kuchta & Brian P, 2024. "Impacts of human mobility on the citywide transmission dynamics of 18 respiratory viruses in pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic years," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Joseph A. Lewnard & Chandra Mohan B & Gagandeep Kang & Ramanan Laxminarayan, 2023. "Attributed causes of excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in a south Indian city," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-30485-3. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.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.