AUTHOR=Nenna Raffaella , Matera Luigi , Licari Amelia , Manti Sara , Di Bella Gaia , Pierangeli Alessandra , Palamara Anna Teresa , Nosetti Luana , Leonardi Salvatore , Marseglia Gian Luigi , Midulla Fabio , ICHRIS Group , Agosti Massimo , Antonelli Guido , Baldanti Fausto , Bonci Flaminia , Conti Maria Giulia , Mattia Greta Di , Ferrari Guglielmo , Frassanito Antonella , Gargiulo Ginevra , Giardina Federica , Bianco Manuela Lo , Maggi Fabrizio , Magri Paola , Mancino Enrica , Naso Matteo , Novazzi Federica , Oliveto Giuseppe , Parisi Giuseppe Fabio , Papale Maria , Papoff Paola , Petrarca Laura , Piralla Antonio , Presti Santiago , Vanzù Gaia TITLE=An Italian Multicenter Study on the Epidemiology of Respiratory Syncytial Virus During SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Hospitalized Children JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2022.930281 DOI=10.3389/fped.2022.930281 ISSN=2296-2360 ABSTRACT=

Since the beginning of 2020, a remarkably low incidence of respiratory virus hospitalizations has been reported worldwide. We prospectively evaluated 587 children, aged <12 years, admitted for respiratory tract infections from 1 September 2021 to 15 March 2022 in four Italian pediatric hospitals to assess the burden of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. At admission, a Clinical Respiratory Score was assigned and nasopharyngeal or nasal washing samples were collected and tested for respiratory viruses. Total admissions increased from the second half of October 2021 to the first half of December 2021 with a peak in early November 2021. The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) incidence curve coincided with the total hospitalizations curve, occurred earlier than in the pre-pandemic years, and showed an opposite trend with respect to the incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2. Our results demonstrated an early peak in pediatric hospitalizations for RSV. SARS-CoV-2 may exhibit a competitive pressure on other respiratory viruses, most notably RSV.