Molecular Study of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Concomitant with COVID-19 Infection in Children under 5 Years

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, an estimated 33 million children under the age of five years are projected to be infected with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), with 10% of those cases necessitating hospital admission and up to 199,000 deaths from the illness.

Patients and Method: We tested 100 suspected patients for RSV infection, with the help of pediatrician . The study was conducted at the Ramadi Teaching Hospital for Maternity and Children /Al-Anbar. The period of study was from 1 December 2023 to 15 March 2024.

Result:

In this study, we examined 100 cases of respiratory infection, 58 cases were positive for RSV. Out of 58 cases with positive RSV, 32 were positive for severe  acute  respiratory  syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen, and from cases positive for SARS-CoV-2 antigen, 18 were confirmed  positive for SARS-CoV-2  by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The age of patients ranged from 1 month to   under   5   years   and   57%   were  males    while 43% were females. Statistical analysis was performed on data from RSV-infected patients as well as age subgroup populations. Patients were classified into the following age groups:1 to 6 months N=36(36%), 6 to 12 months N=24(24%), 12 to 18months N=9 (9%), 18 to 24 months N=17(17%), and more than24 months N=14(14%). The serotype of RSV were N=15(25.8%) of serotype A and were N=43 (74.1%) of serotype B.

Conclusion: RSV is the leading cause of sickness and death in newborns globally, especially in low- and middle-income nations. Palivizumab is crucial for preventing severe RSV LRTIs in high-risk newborns, but the excessively high cost prevents widespread use. During the Pandemic,
primary preventative measures, such as hand hygiene and face masks, were more cost-effective in reducing RSV burden. In addition to the vaccination, non-pharmaceutical preventive hygiene measures should be implemented to reduce RSV spread globally, even after the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic.