Analysis of epidemic trend of respiratory pathogens in children after long-term pathogen isolation
Background China implemented strict prevention and control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to prolonged home confinement of children and significantly reduced exposure to respiratory pathogens. The ability of children under these conditions to resist respiratory pathogens post-lifting...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PeerJ Inc.
2025-07-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/19710.pdf |
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| Summary: | Background China implemented strict prevention and control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to prolonged home confinement of children and significantly reduced exposure to respiratory pathogens. The ability of children under these conditions to resist respiratory pathogens post-lifting of containment measures remained unknown. The children’s ability to face respiratory pathogens post-isolation was assessed through collecting respiratory pathogens detection data, statistical analysis and comparing with pre-epidemic data. In this way, we addressed data gaps in related fields and provided empirical support for research and public health sectors. Methods The pathogen detection method was real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Data analysis software: SPSS Statistics 23. Results Four environmental factors—temperature, humidity, wind speed and sunshine time—exerted interactive effects ton respiratory pathogens prevalence. Influenza A and B viruses, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and adenovirus exhibited seasonally prevalent patterns in winter, while respiratory syncytial virus showed lower prevalence in summer, and rhinovirus had no significant seasonal variation. The infection rate of respiratory syncytial virus and the number of expected infections decreased with the increase of age, whereas adenovirus, influenza virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and bacterial pathogens showed age-related increases in both metrics. Gender-related differences were observed in higher infection rates of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in men compared to women. Co-infection analysis revealed that respiratory syncytial virus exhibited the highest co-infection diversity, followed by influenza B virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus. Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed inhibition of co-infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae. Streptococcus pneumoniae had been shown to inhibit co-infection with Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The lower respiratory tract infection rate of Mycoplasma pneumoniae and bacterial pathogens exceeded the overall infection rate. Infection rates of influenza B virus and adenovirus were lower than the overall rate, while those of influenza A and rhinovirus paralleled the overall rate. Analysis of statistical data from China and Gansu Provincial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that most respiratory pathogens showed an increase in the infection rates post-COVID-19, particularly respiratory syncytial virus, indicating altered prevalence patterns in children due to prolonged exposure to isolated pathogens. |
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| ISSN: | 2167-8359 |