Respiratory virus coinfections with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continue to be rare one year into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Alberta, Canada (June 2020-May 2021)

Jamil N Kanji; Nathan Zelyas; Kanti Pabbaraju; David Granger; Anita Wong; Stephanie A Murphy; Emily Buss; Clayton MacDonald; Byron M Berenger; Mathew A Diggle; Natalie C Marshall; John M Conly; Graham Tipples

doi:10.1017/ice.2021.495

Respiratory virus coinfections with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continue to be rare one year into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Alberta, Canada (June 2020-May 2021)

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2023 May;44(5):805-808. doi: 10.1017/ice.2021.495. Epub 2021 Dec 6.

Authors

Jamil N Kanji^{1

2

3

4}, Nathan Zelyas^{4

5}, Kanti Pabbaraju¹, David Granger¹, Anita Wong¹, Stephanie A Murphy^{5

6}, Emily Buss⁵, Clayton MacDonald⁵, Byron M Berenger^{1

3}, Mathew A Diggle^{4

5}, Natalie C Marshall^{4

5}, John M Conly^{2

3

7

8}, Graham Tipples^{5

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Public Health Laboratory, Alberta Precision Laboratories, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
² Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
³ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
⁴ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
⁵ Public Health Laboratory, Alberta Precision Laboratories, University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
⁶ National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁷ Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
⁸ Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases and O'Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
⁹ Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
¹⁰ Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Abstract

To assess the burden of respiratory virus coinfections with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), this study reviewed 4,818 specimens positive for SARS-CoV-2 and tested using respiratory virus multiplex testing. Coinfections with SARS-CoV-2 were uncommon (2.8%), with enterovirus or rhinovirus as the most prevalent target (88.1%). Respiratory virus coinfection with SARS-CoV-2 remains low 1 year into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

MeSH terms

Alberta
COVID-19*
Coinfection* / epidemiology
Enterovirus Infections*
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2