The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on community respiratory virus activity

• Published in: Nature reviews. Microbiology Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 195 - 210
• Main Authors: Chow, Eric J., Uyeki, Timothy M., Chu, Helen Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.03.2023; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/326/2521; 692/308/174; 692/699/255/2514; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Community involvement; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 Vaccines; Disease transmission; Evolution; Fatalities; Genetic diversity; Humans; Infections; Infectious Diseases; Influenza; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Morbidity; Pandemics; Parasitology; Public health; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory syncytial virus; Review; Review Article; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Viral diseases; Virology; Viruses
• ISSN: 1740-1526; 1740-1534; 1740-1534
• DOI: 10.1038/s41579-022-00807-9

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused substantial global morbidity and deaths, leading governments to turn to non-pharmaceutical interventions to slow down the spread of infection and lessen the burden on health care systems. These policies have evolved over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, including after the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, with regional and country-level differences in their ongoing use. The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with changes in respiratory virus infections worldwide, which have differed between virus types. Reductions in respiratory virus infections, including by influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus, were most notable at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued in varying degrees through subsequent waves of SARS-CoV-2 infections. The decreases in community infection burden have resulted in reduced hospitalizations and deaths associated with non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infections. Respiratory virus evolution relies on the maintaining of a diverse genetic pool, but evidence of genetic bottlenecking brought on by case reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in reduced genetic diversity of some respiratory viruses, including influenza virus. By describing the differences in these changes between viral species across different geographies over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may better understand the complex factors involved in community co-circulation of respiratory viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on respiratory virus infections worldwide. In this Review, Chu and colleagues discuss the changes in community spread and consequent infections by respiratory viruses other than severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) throughout the course of the pandemic, and describe the impact on the evolution and genetic diversity of these viruses.