Epidemiological Trend of RSV Infection Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Three-Year Consecutive Study in China

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of LRTI with RSV Infection in 2019 to 2021

Characteristics	2019 (n=402)	2020 (n=288)	2021 (n=415)	P value
Ratio of RSV infection to total of LRTI patients	7.6% (402/5271)	9.6% (288/3006)^a	13.8% (415/3013)^a,b	<0.001
Age (month), median (IQR)	4.0(6.0)	5.0(9.0)	6.0(9.0)^a	<0.001
Age stratification (month), n (%)				0.001
≤12, n (%)	338(84.7%)	220(77.8%)^a	343(82.7%)^b
12–24, n (%)	31(7.8%)	46(16.0%)^a	28(6.7%)^b
24–60, n (%)	28(7.0%)	19(6.6%)	43(10.4%)
>60, n (%)	2(0.5%)	3(1.0%)	1(0.2%)
Gender (male: female)	1.9:1	2.0:1	2.2:1	0.568
LOS (day), median (IQR)	5.0(4.0)	5.0(4.0)	5.0(3.0)	0.090
Diagnosis of LRTI, n (%)				<0.001
Bronchiolitis	46(11.4%)	37(12.8%)	80(19.6%)^a,b
Bronchitis pneumonia	235(58.5%)	150(52.1%)	250(61.1%)^b
Bronchitis	10(2.5%)	14(4.9%)	12(2.9%)
Prolonged pneumonia	15(3.7%)	6(2.1%)	6(1.5%)^a
Sever pneumonia	96(23.5%)	81(28.1%)	61(14.9%)^a
Co-infection, n(%)	96(23.9%)	42(14.6%)^a	45(10.8%)^a	<0.001
Co-infected viruses, n(%)	43(10.7%)	13(4.5%)^a	6(1.4%)^a,b	<0.001
Flu A	7(1.7%)	2(0.7%)	0(0.0%)
Flu B	2(0.5%)	1(0.3%)	0(0.0%)
ADV	29(7.2%)	5(1.7%)	0(0.0%)^a
PIV-1	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)
PIV-2	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)
PIV-3	8(2.0%)	5(1.7%)	6(1.4%)
Co-infected MP, n (%)	14(3.5%)	6(2.1%)	4(1.0%)^a	0.048
Co-infected CT, n (%)	1(0.2%)	2(0.7%)	7(1.7%)	0.086
Co-infected bacteria, n (%)	48(11.9%)	24(8.3%)	35(8.4%)	0.159
S. pneumoniae	11(22.9%)	6(24.0%)	13(36.1%)
M. catarrhalis	9(18.8%)	10(40.0%)	2(5.6%)^b
S. aureus	8(16.7%)	0(0.0%)	3(8.3%)
H. influenzae	8(16.7%)	2(8.0%)	9(25.0%)
E. coli	4(8.3%)	4(16.0%)	3(8.3%)
K. pneumoniae	4(8.3%)	1(4.0%)	3(8.3%)
E. aerogenes	2(4.2%)	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)
P. aeruginosa	1(4.2%)	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)
R. ornithinolytica	1(4.2%)	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)
A. baumannii	0(0.0%)	1(4.0%)	0(0.0%)
K. oxytoca	0(0.0%)	1(4.0%)	0(0.0%)
S. intermedius	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)	1(2.8%)
E. cloacae	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)	1(2.8%)
S. marcescens	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)	1(2.8%)
Seasonal distribution, n (%)				<0.001
Winter (Dec.~Feb.)	310(77.1%)	224(77.8%)	175(42.2%)^a,b
Spring (Mar.~May.)	45(11.2%)	9(3.1%)^a	29(7.0%)^a,b
Summer (Jun.~Aug.)	11(2.7%)	5(1.7%)	71(17.1%)^a,b
Autumn (Sep.~Nov.)	36(9.0%)	50(17.4%)^a	140(33.7%)^a,b

Notes: ^aRepresents that P<0.05 compared to group 2019; ^bRepresents that P<0.05 compared to group 2020.

Figure 1 Proportion of different age groups in RSV positive children in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Figure 2 Proportion of RSV positive children in different seasons in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and the total cases of each year.

Figure 3 The monthly distribution of RSV positive cases in 2019, 2020 and 2021.