COVID-19 pandemic-altered epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus infections in young children

Abstract

To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of respiratory viral infections, we examined the prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infections for pediatric patients admitted to our hospital before and after the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2015 to June 2023. During the COVID-19 pandemic, no outbreaks of RSV infections were seen in 2020, and no outbreaks of hMPV infections were seen in 2020 and 2021. Before the pandemic, the two epidemics did not overlap, but after the pandemic, the two epidemics almost overlapped for the second year in a row. The average age of patients with both RSV and hMPV infection after the pandemic was significantly older than before the pandemic by approximately one year.