Early initiation of the respiratory syncytial virus season in 2021-2022, Greece.
J Med Virol
; 94(7): 3453-3456, 2022 07.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1702621
ABSTRACT
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common viral pathogen causing respiratory disease in the pediatric population. An unexpected sudden upsurge of RSV infections among children was observed in September 2021 in Greece. Forty-one rhinopharyngeal samples from children under the age of 2 years with confirmed RSV bronchiolitis were tested to identify the genotype(s) of the RSV strain(s). The children were hospitalized during September-November 2021 in three tertiary hospitals in northern Greece. A one-step RT-PCR which amplifies a fragment of the second hypervariable region of the G protein gene was applied. PCR products were sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis was performed. Most (80.5%) RSV cases were typed as RSV-A, with RSV-B accounting for 19.5% of cases. RSV-A and RSV-B sequences clustered within the ON1 and BA genotypes, respectively. As the same genotypes were detected in cases observed during 2016-2018 in northern Greece, it was suggested that the early upsurge of infections was not related to the emergence of novel strain(s), but it was the result of the absence of immunity among children and their mothers due to the restriction measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous RSV season. Awareness is needed to diagnose even the out-of-season RSV infections, while molecular epidemiology plays a key role in monitoring the efficacy of currently available therapeutics and for those under development.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human
/
Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Humans
/
Infant
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
J Med Virol
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jmv.27671
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