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Community-acquired viral respiratory infections amongst hospitalized inpatients during a COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore: co-infection and clinical outcomes.
J Clin Virol. 2020 May 19;128:104436
Authors: Wee LE, Ko KKK, Ho WQ, Kwek GTC, Tan TT, Wijaya L
Abstract
AIMS: During the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, co-circulation of other common respiratory viruses can potentially result in co-infections; however, reported rates of co-infections for SARS-CoV-2 vary. We sought to evaluate the prevalence and etiology of all community acquired viral respiratory infections requiring hospitalization during an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, with a focus on co-infection rates and clinical outcomes.
METHODS: Over a 10-week period, all admissions to our institution, the largest tertiary hospital in Singapore, were screened for respiratory symptoms, and COVID-19 as well as a panel of common respiratory viral pathogens were systematically tested for. Information was collated on clinical outcomes, including requirement for mechanical ventilation and in hospital mortality.
RESULTS: One-fifth (19.3%, 736/3807) of hospitalized inpatients with respiratory symptoms had a PCR-proven viral respiratory infection; of which 58.5% (431/736) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and 42.2% (311/736) tested positive for other common respiratory viruses. The rate of co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 was 1.4% (6/431); all patients with co-infection had mild disease and stayed in communal settings. The in-hospital mortality rate and proportion of COVID-19 patients requiring invasive ventilation was low, at around 1% of patients; these rates were lower than patients with other community-acquired respiratory viruses admitted over the same period (p < 0.01).
CONCLUSION: Even amidst an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, common respiratory viruses still accounted for a substantial proportion of hospitalizations. Coinfections with SARS-CoV-2 were rare, with no observed increase in morbidity or mortality.
PMID: 32447256 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]