☆ 4.2 Article

Coinfections with Respiratory Pathogens among COVID-19 Patients in Korea

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES & MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY (2021)

Journal

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES & MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY

Volume 2021, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

HINDAWI LTD

DOI: 10.1155/2021/6651045

Keywords

Funding

KOICA IBS program [2018-0119]
Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA)

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Abstract

The study found that in South Korea, 8.8% of COVID-19 patients were coinfected with respiratory pathogens. Respiratory viruses involved in co-infections included rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus A and B, non-SARS-CoV-2 coronaviruses, metapneumovirus, influenza A, adenovirus, and bocavirus.

The detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in upper and lower respiratory specimens and coinfection with other respiratory pathogens in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was investigated. Study subjects (N = 342) were retrospectively enrolled after being confirmed as SARS-CoV-2 positive, and their nasopharyngeal swab (NPS), oropharyngeal swab (OPS), and sputum specimens were restored for SARS-CoV-2 retesting and respiratory pathogen detection. The majority of the subjects (96.5%, N = 330) were confirmed as SARS-CoV-2 positive using NPS/OPS specimens. Among the COVID-19 patients (N = 342), 7.9% (N = 27) and 0.9% (N = 3) were coinfected with respiratory viruses and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, respectively, yielding an 8.8% (N = 30) overall respiratory pathogen coinfection rate. Of the respiratory virus coinfection cases (N = 27), 92.6% (N = 25) were coinfected with a single respiratory virus and 7.4% (N = 2) with two viruses (metapneumovirus/adenovirus and rhinovirus/bocavirus). No triple coinfections of other respiratory viruses or bacteria with SARS-CoV-2 were detected. Respiratory viruses coinfected in the patients with COVID-19 were as follows: rhinovirus (N = 7, 2.1%), respiratory syncytial virus A and B (N = 6, 1.8%), non-SARS-CoV-2 coronaviruses (229E, NL63, and OC43, N = 5, 1.5%), metapneumovirus (N = 4, 1.2%), influenza A (N = 3, 0.9%), adenovirus (N = 3, 0.9%), and bocavirus (N = 1, 0.3%). In conclusion, the diagnostic value of utilizing NPS/OPS specimens is excellent, and, as the first report in Korea, coinfection with respiratory pathogens was detected at a rate of 8.8% in patients with COVID-19.

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Coinfections with Other Respiratory Pathogens among Patients with COVID-19

K. Sreenath, Priyam Batra, E. V. Vinayaraj, Ridhima Bhatia, K. V. P. SaiKiran, Vishwajeet Singh, Sheetal Singh, Nishant Verma, Urvashi B. Singh, Anant Mohan, Sushma Bhatnagar, Anjan Trikha, Randeep Guleria, Rama Chaudhry

Summary: Research indicates that a significant proportion of COVID-19 patients are coinfected with other respiratory pathogens, predominantly bacteria and viruses. Timely identification of coinfections can lead to better patient outcomes and improved antibiotic stewardship.

MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM (2021)