1. Re-Emergence of HMPV in Gwangju, South Korea, after the COVID-19 Pandemic.
- Author
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Cho, Sun-Ju, Kim, Sun-Hee, Lee, Hongsu, Lee, Yeong-Un, Mun, Jeongeun, Park, Sujung, Park, Jungwook, Park, Ji-Su, Lee, Kwangho, Lee, Cheong-mi, Seo, Jinjong, Kim, Yonghwan, and Chung, Yoon-Seok
- Subjects
HUMAN metapneumovirus infection ,COVID-19 pandemic ,NUCLEOTIDE sequencing ,SPRING ,AGE distribution ,SOCIAL distancing - Abstract
The non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have affected the epidemiology of other respiratory viruses. In South Korea, Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) typically occurs from winter to the following spring; however, it was not detected for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic and re-emerged in the fall of 2022, which is a non-epidemic season. To examine the molecular genetic characteristics of HMPV before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, we analyzed 427 HMPV-positive samples collected in the Gwangju area from 2018 to 2022. Among these, 24 samples were subjected to whole-genome sequencing. Compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence rate of HMPV in 2022 increased by 2.5-fold. Especially in the age group of 6–10 years, the incidence rate increased by more than 4.5-fold. In the phylogenetic analysis results, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the A2.2.2 lineage was predominant, while in 2022, the A2.2.1 and B2 lineage were observed. The non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented after COVID-19, such as social distancing, have reduced opportunities for exposure to HMPV, subsequently leading to decreased acquisition of immunity. As a result, HMPV occurred during non-epidemic seasons, influencing the age distribution of its occurrences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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