1
|
Vink E, Banda L, Amoah AS, Kasenda S, Read JM, Jewell C, Denis B, Mwale AC, Crampin A, Anscombe C, Menyere M, Ho A. Prevalence of Endemic Respiratory Viruses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Urban and Rural Malawi. Open Forum Infect Dis 2024; 11:ofad643. [PMID: 38312213 PMCID: PMC10836885 DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofad643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Background We investigated endemic respiratory virus circulation patterns in Malawi, where no lockdown was imposed, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Within a prospective household cohort in urban and rural Malawi, adult participants provided upper respiratory tract (URT) samples at 4 time points between February 2021 and April 2022. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and other endemic respiratory viruses. Results 1626 URT samples from 945 participants in 542 households were included. Overall, 7.6% (n = 123) samples were PCR- positive for >1 respiratory virus; SARS-CoV-2 (4.4%) and rhinovirus (2.0%) were most common. No influenza A virus was detected. Influenza B and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were rare. Higher virus positivity were detected in the rural setting and at earlier time points. Coinfections were infrequent. Conclusions Endemic respiratory viruses circulated in the community in Malawi during the pandemic, though influenza and RSV were rarely detected. Distinct differences in virus positivity and demographics were observed between urban and rural cohorts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elen Vink
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
| | - Louis Banda
- Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit, Lilongwe and Chilumba, Malawi
| | - Abena S Amoah
- Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit, Lilongwe and Chilumba, Malawi
- Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
- Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Stephen Kasenda
- Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit, Lilongwe and Chilumba, Malawi
| | - Jonathan M Read
- Centre for Health Information Computation and Statistics, Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Chris Jewell
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Brigitte Denis
- Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi
| | | | - Amelia Crampin
- Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit, Lilongwe and Chilumba, Malawi
- Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
- School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Catherine Anscombe
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Mavis Menyere
- Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Antonia Ho
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
| |
Collapse
|