ArticleBMC infectious diseases2025
Changes in the epidemic patterns of respiratory pathogens of children in guangzhou, China during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Clinical and epidemiological changes in severe viral respiratory infections in pediatric patients after the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Three-stage interpretability analysis of influenza virus and meteorological correlation in Jiuquan City, 2016-2025: SARIMAX + TreeSHAP.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Epidemiological profile of respiratory viruses associated with influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection in Guangzhou, China, 2024-2025.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Analysis of the pathogen spectrum, co-infection characteristics, and risk of severe disease in community-acquired pneumonia among children in Henan province.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Long-Term Epidemiological Trends of Human Adenovirus Infection in South Korea: A Single-Center Study (2007-2024).Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Comparison of respiratory pathogen infections in hospitalized patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai, China.Microbiology spectrum · 2025Article
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Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the epidemiological characteristics of pediatric respiratory pathogens in Guangzhou, China, from 2018 to 2023 in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic and to evaluate the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on the transmission dynamics and seasonal patterns of respiratory pathogens.
methodsA retrospective analysis was conducted at Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center between January 2018 and December 2023. Pediatric patients who underwent the respiratory pathogens tests were enrolled in the study and divided into four groups by age: Infant group, Toddler group, Preschool group, and School-age group. The nasopharyngeal swab or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples were collected for real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) test of respiratory pathogens. Ten common respiratory pathogens, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) and Influenza A virus (FluA), were detected. In addition, the study period was divided into three phases: Pre-COVID-19 (2018-2019), COVID-19 (2020-2022), and Post-COVID-19 (2023). Detection rates, distribution patterns, and seasonal variations of respiratory pathogens were analyzed between different phases and different age groups.
resultsThis study included 317,828 pediatric patients (median age: 3.4 years, IQR: 1.3-6.0), from whom 1,160,764 respiratory pathogen tests were conducted. The overall pathogen detection rate was 8.02% (93,108/1,160,764). The positive rate during the COVID-19 phase (18.44%, 95% CI 14.89-22.00%) was significantly lower than that of the Pre-COVID-19 (27.55%, 95% CI 23.95-31.16%) and Post-COVID-19 (27.15, 95% CI 21.47-32.84%) phases (P < 0.001). No significant difference was observed between Pre-COVID-19 and Post-COVID-19 phases (P = 0.948). Different pathogens exhibited varying levels of suppression and recovery patterns, with some demonstrating altered seasonal patterns. The primary affected age groups shifted from infants and toddlers during the Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 phases to preschool and school-age children in the Post-COVID-19 phase. Co-infections were identified in 2,515 cases, with the highest rate observed during the Pre-COVID-19 phase (3.40%), followed by the COVID-19 (2.26%) and Post-COVID-19 (2.46%) phases.
conclusionsNPIs implemented during the early COVID-19 pandemic effectively suppressed the transmission of respiratory pathogens and disrupted their seasonal patterns. However, some pathogens gradually resumed activity during the mid-to-late COVID-19 phase, leading to atypical outbreaks. Following NPI relaxation, multiple pathogens rebounded during the Post-COVID-19 phase, posing significant challenges for the healthcare system. These findings offer valuable insights for guiding public health strategies and optimizing the prevention and control of respiratory infections. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
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