ArticleThe Lancet regional health. Europe2021
Trends in respiratory virus circulation following COVID-19-targeted nonpharmaceutical interventions in Germany, January - September 2020: Analysis of national surveillance data.
Article in The Lancet regional health. Europe, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 106 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
106 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 155 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions Targeted at COVID-19 Pandemic on Influenza Burden-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2026Pooled it
- Respiratory syncytial virus disease burden in children and adults from Latin America: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Risk of transmission of respiratory viruses during aerosol-generating medical procedures (AGMPs) revisited in the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2022Pooled it
- Influenza-related Deaths in Young Children: Observations From a German Case Series.The Pediatric infectious disease journal · 2026Article
- Leveraging perturbations to infer the population dynamics of human rhinovirus and interaction of influenza A virus.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Current Perspectives on JC Polyomavirus Transmission and Associated Diseases: Implications for Prevention in Risk Populations.Viruses · 2026Review
- Age-Related Asymptomatic Rhinovirus Infections Contribute to the Sustained Prevalence in Adults and Are Not Mitigated by Nonpharmaceutical Interventions.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2026Article
- Seasonal patterns in nine notifiable communicable diseases and the epidemic dynamics of COVID-19 at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare: a six-year review (2019-2024).Journal of medicine and life · 2026Article
- Global Patterns of Human Rhinovirus Activity and Epidemic Duration, 2016-2025: Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) in poultry and domestic cats and occupational exposure among veterinary and other first responders, Germany, February 2026.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2026Article
- Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 nonpharmaceutical interventions on influenza epidemiology: A retrospective analysis in Hebei Province, China from 2019 to 2023.The Journal of international medical research · 2026Article
- Leveraging perturbations to infer the population dynamics of human rhinovirus and interaction of influenza A virus.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Changes in spectrum of respiratory pathogens infections among hospitalized patients post COVID-19 pandemic in Jinan, Shandong Province.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A public health perspective of SARS-CoV-2 evolution and surveillance strategies in Germany from 2020 to 2023.Communications medicine · 2025Review
- Subacute Thyroiditis-Is it Really Linked to Viral Infection?The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Article
- Hospitalizations trends and co-infection patterns for respiratory virus infections in children in central China 2015 to 2023: a longitudinal surveillance study.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Long-term impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on respiratory viruses in Germany.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Atypical Influenza A(H3N2) Activity Patterns in Germany, 2021-2023, and Characterization of Newly Emerged Virus Clades.Journal of medical virology · 2025Article
46 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring the initial COVID-19 response, Germany's Federal Government implemented several nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that were instrumental in suppressing early exponential spread of SARS-CoV-2. NPI effect on the transmission of other respiratory viruses has not been examined at the national level thus far.
methodsUpper respiratory tract specimens from 3580 patients with acute respiratory infection (ARI), collected within the nationwide German ARI Sentinel, underwent RT-PCR diagnostics for multiple respiratory viruses. The observation period (weeks 1-38 of 2020) included the time before, during and after a far-reaching contact ban. Detection rates for different viruses were compared to 2017-2019 sentinel data (15350 samples; week 1-38, 11823 samples).
findingsThe March 2020 contact ban, which was followed by a mask mandate, was associated with an unprecedented and sustained decline of multiple respiratory viruses. Among these, rhinovirus was the single agent that resurged to levels equalling those of previous years. Rhinovirus rebound was first observed in children, after schools and daycares had reopened. By contrast, other nonenveloped viruses (i.e. gastroenteritis viruses reported at the national level) suppressed after the shutdown did not rebound.
interpretationContact restrictions with a subsequent mask mandate in spring may substantially reduce respiratory virus circulation. This reduction appears sustained for most viruses, indicating that the activity of influenza and other respiratory viruses during the subsequent winter season might be low,whereas rhinovirus resurgence, potentially driven by transmission in educational institutions in a setting of waning population immunity, might signal predominance of rhinovirus-related ARIs.
fundingRobert Koch-Institute and German Ministry of Health.
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