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. 2023 Apr 27;11(5):905.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines11050905.

Viral Pneumonia during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2019-2021 Evoking Needs for SARS-CoV-2 and Additional Vaccinations

Affiliations

Viral Pneumonia during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2019-2021 Evoking Needs for SARS-CoV-2 and Additional Vaccinations

Sheng-Chieh Lin et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

Coronaviruses can cause pneumonia, with clinical symptoms that may be similar to the symptoms of other viral pneumonias. To our knowledge, there have been no reports regarding cases of pneumonia caused by coronaviruses and other viruses among hospitalized patients in the past 3 years before and during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we analysed the causes of viral pneumonia among hospitalized patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (2019-2021). Between September 2019 and April 2021, patients hospitalized at Shuang Ho Hospital in north Taiwan with a diagnosis of pneumonia were enrolled in this study. Age, sex, onset date, and season of occurrence were recorded. Respiratory tract pathogens were identified with molecular detection using the FilmArray® platform from nasopharyngeal swabs. In total, 1147 patients (128 patients aged <18 years and 1019 patients aged ≥18 years) with pneumonia and identified respiratory tract pathogens were assessed. Among the 128 children with pneumonia, the dominant viral respiratory pathogen was rhinovirus (24.2%), followed by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV; 22.7%), parainfluenza virus (1 + 2 + 3 + 4) (17.2%), adenovirus (12.5%), metapneumovirus (9.4%), coronavirus (1.6%), and influenza virus (A + B) (1.6%). Among the 1019 adults with pneumonia, the dominant viral respiratory pathogen was rhinovirus (5.0%), followed by RSV (2.0%), coronavirus (2.0%), metapneumovirus (1.5%), parainfluenza virus (1 + 2 + 3 + 4) (1.1%), adenovirus (0.7%), and influenza virus (A + B) (0%). From 2019-2021, older patients (aged >65 years) with pneumonia tested positive for coronavirus most commonly in autumn. Coronavirus was not detected during summer in children or adults. Among children aged 0-6 years, RSV was the most common viral pathogen, and RSV infection occurred most often in autumn. Metapneumovirus infection occurred most often in spring in both children and adults. In contrast, influenza virus was not detected in patients with pneumonia in any season among children or adults from January 2020 to April 2021. Among all patients with pneumonia, the most common viral pathogens were rhinovirus in spring, adenovirus and rhinovirus in summer, RSV and rhinovirus in autumn, and parainfluenza virus in winter. Among children aged 0-6 years, RSV, rhinovirus, and adenovirus were detected in all seasons during the study period. In conclusion, the proportion of pneumonia cases caused by a viral pathogen was higher in children than the proportion in adults. The COVID-19 pandemic period evoked a need for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2) vaccination to prevent the severe complications of COVID-19. However, other viruses were also found. Vaccines for influenza were clinically applied. Active vaccines for other viral pathogens such as RSV, rhinovirus, metapneuomoccus, parainfluenza, and adenovirus may need to be developed for special groups in the future.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; vaccination; viral pneumonia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A). The highest percentage of respiratory tract pathogens in pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic in the below-age-18 subgroup was RSV among patients <6 years old, and rhinovirus among patients 6–17 years old. (B). The highest percentage of respiratory tract pathogens in pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic in the above-age-18 subgroup was rhinovirus for both patients 18–64 years old and >65 years old.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A). The seasonal distribution of pathogens in pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic among patients below age 18; the common viral pathogen in spring was metapneumovirus, in summer was adenovirus, in autumn was RSV, and in winter was parainfluenza virus. (B). The seasonal distribution of pathogens in pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic among patients above age 18; the common viral pathogen in spring and summer was rhinovirus, in autumn was coronavirus and RSV, and in winter was coronavirus followed by rhinovirus.

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