Circulation of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia.

Jarju, SORCID logo; Senghore, E; Brotherton, HORCID logo; Affleck, L; Saidykhan, A; Jallow, S; Krubally, EORCID logo; Sinjanka, E; Ndene, MN; Bajo, F; +13 more...Sanyang, MM; Saidy, B; Bah, AORCID logo; Mohammed, NIORCID logo; Forrest, KORCID logo; Clarke, EORCID logo; Dalessandro, UORCID logo; Sesay, AK; Usuf, EORCID logo; Cerami, CORCID logo; Roca, AORCID logo; Kampmann, BORCID logo; de Silva, TI and (2022) Circulation of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia. Gates open research, 6. 148-. ISSN 2572-4754 DOI: 10.12688/gatesopenres.14155.3
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Background: In many countries, non-pharmaceutical interventions to limit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission resulted in significant reductions in other respiratory viruses. However, similar data from Africa are limited. We explored the extent to which viruses such as influenza and rhinovirus co-circulated with SARS-CoV-2 in The Gambia during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Methods: Between April 2020 and March 2022, respiratory viruses were detected using RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs from 1397 participants with influenza-like illness. An assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 and a viral multiplex RT-PCR assay was used as previously described  to detect influenza A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A and B, parainfluenza viruses 1-4, human metapneumovirus (HMPV), adenovirus, seasonal coronaviruses (229E, OC43, NL63) and human rhinovirus. Results: Overall virus positivity was 44.2%, with prevalence higher in children <5 years (80%) compared to children aged 5-17 years (53.1%), adults aged 18-50 (39.5%) and >50 years (39.9%), p<0.0001. After SARS-CoV-2 (18.3%), rhinoviruses (10.5%) and influenza viruses (5.5%) were the most prevalent. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was lower in children <5 (4.3%) and 5-17 years (12.7%) than in adults aged 18-50 (19.3%) and >50 years (24.3%), p<0.0001. In contrast, rhinoviruses were most prevalent in children <5 years (28.7%), followed by children aged 5-17 (15.8%), adults aged 18-50 (8.3%) and >50 years (6.3%), p<0.0001. Four SARS-CoV-2 waves occurred, with 36.1%-52.4% SARS-CoV-2 positivity during peak months. Influenza infections were observed in both 2020 and 2021 during the rainy season as expected (peak positivity 16.4%-23.5%). Peaks of rhinovirus were asynchronous to the months when SARS-CoV-2 and influenza peaked. Conclusion: Our data show that many respiratory viruses continued to circulate during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia, including human rhinoviruses, despite the presence of NPIs during the early stages of the pandemic, and influenza peaks during expected months.


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