Journal of Advances in Medical and Biomedical Research

en Co-infection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and Influenza Virus in Iranian Pediatric Patients Hospitalized with Suspected COVID-19: A Comparative Analysis of Clinical Characteristics Medical Biology Medical Biology مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article Background & Objective:  Co-infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and either respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or influenza virus may increase disease severity in children compared with single infections. This study investigated the frequency of SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza virus infections and co-infections and compared the clinical and laboratory characteristics of affected patients.  Materials & Methods:  Upper respiratory swab samples collected from 337 hospitalized pediatric patients. Multiplex real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza viruses. Clinical symptoms, characteristics, and laboratory findings were compared among virus-positive groups. Results:  Among the 337 hospitalized children, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza virus were detected in 18 (5.3%), 9 (2.7%), and 34 (10.1%) patients, respectively. Three cases of RSV/influenza virus co-infection and one case of SARS-CoV-2/influenza virus co-infection were identified. At hospital admission, fever was significantly more frequent among influenza- and SARS-CoV-2-positive patients than among RSV-positive patients (P=0.024). In addition, fatigue was reported significantly more frequently in the SARS-CoV-2-positive group than in the RSV- and influenza-positive groups (P=0.032). Conclusion:  Respiratory viral co-infections were uncommon in this cohort. All four patients with viral co-infections (one SARS-CoV-2/influenza and three RSV/influenza) presented with mild respiratory disease, similar to the majority of patients with single viral infections. These findings suggest that, in this cohort, respiratory viral co-infection was not associated with increased clinical severity.   Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Respiratory syncytial virus, Influenza virus, co-infection, Pediatric 230 237 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-7292-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammad Hossein Alijani mhalijani77@yahoo.com 5200319475328460090734 0009-0007-2860-7786 No Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol,47176-47745, Iran.0009 Farzin Sadeghi sadeghifarzin6@gmail.com 5200319475328460090735 5200319475328460090735 No Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Sahar Sadr Moharerpour drsaharsadr@gmail.com 5200319475328460090736 5200319475328460090736 No Clinical Research Development Center, Amirkola Children's Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Ali Hasanzadeh ali72hassanzadeh@gmail.com 5200319475328460090737 5200319475328460090737 No Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran Mohsen Mohammadi dr.mohamadi61@yahoo.com 5200319475328460090738 5200319475328460090738 No Non-Communicable Pediatric Disease Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Zeinab Vosough vosoughz@gmail.com 5200319475328460090739 5200319475328460090739 No Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Hossein Ghorbani Ghorbani.serita1403@gmail.com 5200319475328460090740 5200319475328460090740 Yes Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran