1. Respiratory Disease Surveillance in the Middle East and Latin America during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020–2022
- Author
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Yeny O. Tinoco, Tamer S. Osman, Julia S. Ampuero, Mahmoud Gazo, Victor Ocaña, Edward Chávez, Marianela Ore, Elizabeth Carrillo, Jose Santa Cruz, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Alvarez, Rommell Gonzalez, Marina S. Gonzalez, Doris Gómez, Maria E. Arango, Javier Jaramillo, Juan M. Pascale, Nicolas Aguayo, Daniel Olson, Kareen Arias, Miguel M. Cabada, William D. Graham, Tyler D. Moeller, Mohammad Alhawarat, Moutasium Hossinate, Fatima Thneibat, Mohammad Maayeh, Bassem A. Hamdy, Omar Nowar, Samuel Y. Levin, and Mayar M. Said
- Subjects
respiratory infections ,influenza ,COVID-19 ,SARS-CoV-2 ,severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ,viruses ,Medicine ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 - Abstract
Characterizing the epidemiology of circulating respiratory pathogens during the COVID-19 pandemic could clarify the burden of acute respiratory infections and monitor outbreaks of public health and military relevance. The US Department of Defense supported 2 regions for influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infections surveillance, one in the Middle East through US Naval Medical Research Unit EURAFCENT, and another in Latin America through US Naval Medical Research Unit SOUTH. During 2020‒2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, we collected a total of 16,146 nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab samples from sentinel sites in Jordan (n = 11,305) and Latin America (n = 4,841). Samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and other respiratory pathogens. SARS-CoV-2 was the most frequently detected pathogen during 2020; other respiratory pathogens had distinct temporal and frequency distributions according to geographic location. Our findings support the need for continued sentinel surveillance as a vital tool for assessing the burden of respiratory diseases globally.
- Published
- 2024
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