The changing landscape of respiratory viruses contributing to respiratory hospitalisations: results from a hospital-based surveillance in Quebec, Canada, 2012-13 to 2021-22

ABSTRACT

BackgroundA comprehensive description of the combined effect of SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory viruses (RV) other than SARS-CoV-2 (ORV) on hospitalisations is lacking. AimTo compare viral etiology of acute respiratory infections (ARI) hospitalisations before and during two pandemic years from a surveillance network in Quebec, Canada. MethodWe compared detection of ORV and SARS-CoV-2 during 2020-21 and 2021-22 to 8 pre-pandemic influenza seasons in patients hospitalised with ARI who were tested systematically by a multiplex PCR. ResultsDuring pre-pandemic influenza seasons, overall RV detection was 92.7% (1,493) (48.3% respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)) in children and 62.8% (4,339) (40.1% influenza) in adults. Overall RV detection in 2020-21 was 58.6% (29) in children (all ORV) and 43.7% (333) in adults (3.4% ORV, 40.3% SARS-CoV2, both including coinfections). In 2021-22 overall RV detection was 91.0% (201) in children (82.8% ORV, 8.1% SARS-CoV-2, both including coinfections) and 55.5% (527) in adults (14.1% ORV, 41.4% SARS-CoV-2, both including coinfections). Virtually no influenza was detected in 2020-21 and in 2021-22 up to epi-week 2022-9 presented here; no RSV was detected in 2020-21. In 2021-22, detection of RSV was comparable to pre-pandemic years but with an unusually early season. There were significant differences in ORV and SARS-CoV-2 detection between time periods and age groups. ConclusionSignificant continuous shifts in age distribution and viral etiology of ARI hospitalisations occurred during two pandemic years. This reflects evolving RV epidemiology and underscores the need for increased scrutiny of ARI hospitalisation etiology to inform tailored public health recommendations.