The Incidence of Common Respiratory Viruses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results From the Louisville COVID-19 Epidemiology Study

Authors

Brian C. Bohn PharmD, BCIDP, Norton Pharmacy Services, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY, USAFollow
Ashley M. Wilde PharmD, BCPS-AQ ID, Norton Pharmacy Services, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY, USAFollow
Sarah E. Moore PharmD, Norton Pharmacy Services, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY, USAFollow
Matthew Song PharmD, BCIDP, Norton Pharmacy Services, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY, USAFollow
Clayton J. Patross PharmD, BCPS, Norton Pharmacy Services, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY, USAFollow
Alan D. Junkins PhD, D(ABMM), Department of Microbiology, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY, USAFollow
Paul Schulz MD, Norton Infectious Diseases Specialists, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY, USAFollow
Julio A. Ramirez MD FACP, Center of Excellence for Research in Infectious Diseases, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USAFollow

Funder

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Abstract

Introduction: Social distancing has been utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2; it is also expected to reduce the spread of common respiratory viruses.

Methods: This retrospective, descriptive study assessed the rate of positivity of common respiratory viruses from a commercially available respiratory pathogen panel across a five-hospital health system during four-week periods within March to April of 2019 and 2020.

Results: During the four-week period in 2019, the percent positivity of common respiratory viruses from week 1 to week 4 decreased from 6 to 32% among the four included viruses. In the comparator period in 2020, a decrease ranging from 74 to 100% was observed from week 1 to week 4.

Conclusions: These data indicate that the social distancing efforts implemented in Louisville, Kentucky, may be associated with a decrease in incidence of common respiratory viruses. This decrease in positivity of common respiratory viruses may serve as a surrogate marker for the effect of social distancing on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

DOI

10.18297/jri/vol4/iss1/58

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Bohn, Brian C. PharmD, BCIDP; Wilde, Ashley M. PharmD, BCPS-AQ ID; Moore, Sarah E. PharmD; Song, Matthew PharmD, BCIDP; Patross, Clayton J. PharmD, BCPS; Junkins, Alan D. PhD, D(ABMM); Schulz, Paul MD; and Ramirez, Julio A. MD FACP (2020) "The Incidence of Common Respiratory Viruses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results From the Louisville COVID-19 Epidemiology Study," The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 58.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18297/jri/vol4/iss1/58
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jri/vol4/iss1/58