Epidemiology and clinical features of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in hospitalized children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Gorgan, Iran

Mahnaz Ramzali; Vahid Salimi; Fatemeh Cheraghali; Seyedeh Delafruz Hosseini; Mohammad Yasaghi; Saeed Samadizadeh; Mostafa Rastegar; Britt Nakstad; Alireza Tahamtan

doi:10.1002/hsr2.1787

Epidemiology and clinical features of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in hospitalized children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Gorgan, Iran

Health Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 3;7(1):e1787. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.1787. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Authors

Mahnaz Ramzali^{1

2}, Vahid Salimi³, Fatemeh Cheraghali⁴, Seyedeh Delafruz Hosseini^{1

2}, Mohammad Yasaghi^{1

2}, Saeed Samadizadeh^{1

2}, Mostafa Rastegar^{1

2}, Britt Nakstad^{5

6}, Alireza Tahamtan^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Infectious Diseases Research Center Golestan University of Medical Sciences Gorgan Iran.
² Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine Golestan University of Medical Sciences Gorgan Iran.
³ Department of Virology, School of Public Health Tehran University of Medical Sciences Tehran Iran.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Taleghani Children's Hospital Golestan University of Medical Sciences Gorgan Iran.
⁵ Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Health University of Botswana Gaborone Botswana.
⁶ Division of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine University of Oslo Oslo Norway.

Abstract

Background and aims: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of acute respiratory infection in infants and young children. Given the altered circulation patterns of respiratory viruses during the coronavirus disease pandemic-2019 (COVID-19), the study aimed to evaluate epidemiology and clinical features of RSV infections in hospitalized children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Gorgan, northeastern Iran. Molecular epidemiology studies on respiratory viral infections are necessary to monitor circulating viruses, disease severity, and clinical symptoms, in addition to early warning of new outbreaks.

Methods: Overall, 411 respiratory swab samples from hospitalized children from October 2021 to March 2022 were collected at Taleghani Children's Hospital, Gorgan, Iran. The incidence of RSV, as well as the circulating subgroups and genotypes, were investigated and confirmed using PCR methods. Additionally, all samples tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza, and demographic and clinical data were analyzed using SPSS software.

Results: The share of RSV, SARS-CoV-2, and influenza among hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) were 27%, 16.5%, and 4.1%, respectively. The RSV subgroup A (genotype ON1) was dominant over subgroup B (genotype BA9), with more severe clinical symptoms. Compared with the prepandemic era there were high numbers of hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 positive children and low numbers of other respiratory viruses. Despite this, the prevalence of ALRI-related RSV-disease among hospitalized children in our specialized pediatric center was higher than COVID-19 disease in the same cohort.

Conclusions: Studying the epidemiology of respiratory viruses and determining the circulating strains can contribute to effective infection control and treatment strategies.

Keywords: COVID‐19; influenza; polymerase chain reaction; respiratory syncytial virus.