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Journal Article Review Epublish 80 citations

PubMed: 40137747 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens14030262

Epidemiology, Clinical Significance, and Diagnosis of Respiratory Viruses and Their Co-Infections in the Post-COVID Era.

Pathogens 14(3)

Authors: Kaia M Contes, Benjamin M Liu

Affiliations

  • Department of Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
  • Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC 20010, USA.
  • Department of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC 20010, USA.
  • Department of Pathology, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
  • Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
  • Children's National Research Institute, Washington, DC 20012, USA.
  • The District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research, Washington, DC 20052, USA.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel human coronavirus, emerged in late 2019 and rapidly evolved into a pandemic around the world. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically changed the epidemiology and seasonality of other traditional respiratory viruses, e.g., influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, enterovirus, etc. These traditional respiratory viruses have transmission mode and clinical symptoms similar to SARS-CoV-2 but may differ in clinical outcomes and management. Co-infection between SARS-CoV-2 and one or more traditional respiratory viruses have been reported in the literature but have shown mixed evidence in clinical outcomes. With SARS-CoV-2 evolving into mild Omicron variants, it is believed that SARS-CoV-2 co-circulates with other respiratory viruses, which in turn affect the epidemiology and clinical course of respiratory viral infections. In response to these changes, multiplex molecular tests for SARS-CoV-2 and one or more traditional respiratory viruses are attracting more attention in the field and have been developed into a variety of testing modalities. In this review, we describe the seasonality (i.e., in the Northern Hemisphere), epidemiology, and clinical significance of traditional respiratory viruses and their co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the post-COVID era. Furthermore, we review commonly used multiplex molecular tests and their applications for the detection of respiratory viruses and their co-infections. Altogether, this review not only sheds light on the epidemiology and clinical significance of respiratory viral infections and co-infections in the post-COVID era, and but also provides insights into the laboratory-based diagnoses of respiratory viral infections using multiplex molecular testing.

MeSH

Research Design, Coronavirus, Respiratory Syncytial Viruses, Sars-Cov-2, Epidemiology, Coinfection, Signs And Symptoms, Viruses, Diagnosis, Pandemics, Orthomyxoviridae, Enterovirus, Infections, Virus Diseases

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