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Off-season RSV epidemics in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

ABSTRACT: Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of acute respiratory infection with the most severe disease in the young and elderly. Non-pharmaceutical interventions and travel restrictions for controlling COVID-19 have impacted the circulation of most respiratory viruses including RSV globally, particularly in Australia, where during 2020 the normal winter epidemics were notably absent. However, in late 2020, unprecedented widespread RSV outbreaks occurred, beginning in spring, and extending into summer across two widely separated regions of the Australian continent, New South Wales (NSW) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in the east, and Western Australia. Through genomic sequencing we reveal a major reduction in RSV genetic diversity following COVID-19 emergence with two genetically distinct RSV-A clades circulating cryptically, likely localised for several months prior to an epidemic surge in cases upon relaxation of COVID-19 control measures. The NSW/ACT clade subsequently spread to the neighbouring state of Victoria and to cause extensive outbreaks and hospitalisations in early 2021. These findings highlight the need for continued surveillance and sequencing of RSV and other respiratory viruses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as mitigation measures may disrupt seasonal patterns, causing larger or more severe outbreaks.

SUBMITTER: Eden JS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9130497 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Off-season RSV epidemics in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Eden John-Sebastian JS Sikazwe Chisha C Xie Ruopeng R Deng Yi-Mo YM Sullivan Sheena G SG Michie Alice A Levy Avram A Cutmore Elena E Blyth Christopher C CC Britton Philip N PN Crawford Nigel N Dong Xiaomin X Dwyer Dominic E DE Edwards Kimberly M KM Horsburgh Bethany A BA Foley David D Kennedy Karina K Minney-Smith Cara C Speers David D Tulloch Rachel L RL Holmes Edward C EC Dhanasekaran Vijaykrishna V Smith David W DW Kok Jen J Barr Ian G IG

Nature communications 20220524 1

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of acute respiratory infection with the most severe disease in the young and elderly. Non-pharmaceutical interventions and travel restrictions for controlling COVID-19 have impacted the circulation of most respiratory viruses including RSV globally, particularly in Australia, where during 2020 the normal winter epidemics were notably absent. However, in late 2020, unprecedented widespread RSV outbreaks occurred, beginning in spring, a ...[more]

PMID: 35610217

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Dataset Information

Off-season RSV epidemics in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Publications

Off-season RSV epidemics in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

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