ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To compare infection rates and circulating subtypes of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) before (2019-2020) and after the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (2021) in Israel. METHODS: In total, 12,718 respiratory samples were collected from hospitalized patients of all ages during the years 2019 to 2021 at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel and subjected to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis. In addition, whole-genome sequencing was performed to characterize the subtypes of hMPV circulating in Israel between 2019 and 2021. RESULTS: A total of 481 samples were found positive for hMPV. Before the emergence of COVID-19, hMPV peaked in winter months and declined thereafter. In sharp contrast, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed a delayed peak in hMPV infection cases and higher infection of young children. Viral sequencing showed a shift in the most prevalent circulating hMPV strain from A2b to B1 during the years 2019, 2020, and 2021. CONCLUSION: Compared with the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021, hMPV mostly affected young children, and the most prevalent circulating subtype shifted from A2b in 2019 to B1.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Metapneumovirus , Paramyxoviridae Infections , Respiratory Tract Infections , COVID-19/epidemiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Genotype , Humans , Infant , Israel/epidemiology , Metapneumovirus/genetics , Pandemics , Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology , Phylogeny , Prevalence , Respiratory Tract Infections/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The SARS-CoV-2 Lambda (Pango lineage designation C.37) variant of interest, initially identified in Peru, has spread to additional countries. First detected in Israel in April 2021 following importations from Argentina and several European countries, the Lambda variant infected 18 individuals belonging to two main transmission chains without further spread. Micro-neutralisation assays following Comirnaty (BNT162b2 mRNA, BioNTech-Pfizer) vaccination demonstrated a significant 1.6-fold reduction in neutralising titres compared with the wild type virus, suggesting increased susceptibility of vaccinated individuals to infection.