Since the COVID-19 pandemic, public health researchers and research scientists have sought more urgently to understand the worldwide respiratory virus landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to re-evaluate our global public health priorities and activities. Additionally, acute respiratory tract infections are one of the leading causes of illness and death worldwide, particularly in developing countries. To really understand what changed with the pandemic and how we can best respond going forward, we need to understand what the baseline landscape was before the pandemic. Studies using samples that were collected prior to the pandemic are essential to this effort.
A research study by Islam, SMR and colleagues October of 2024, looked to describe the respiratory virus landscape by identifying the distribution and prevalence of respiratory viruses among people showing symptoms in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during a pre-COVID-19 time period. Samples from 152 individuals were collected and analyzed to detect 16 different respiratory viruses. The SV Total RNA Isolation System was used to isolate high-quality RNA suitable for downstream multiplex qPCR from sputum, tracheal swabs, and tracheal aspirates.
Of the 152 samples, 32% tested positive for at least one respiratory virus. Thirty-two percent of samples from individuals in outpatient clinics tested positive for human corona viruses (the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic is a corona virus). This was followed by influenza virus and human rhinovirus. Of samples collected from individuals treated in an intensive care situation, human rhinovirus and human parainfluenza virus were most prevalent. Within the 152 samples, 14% showed co-infections with two different viral pathogens.
The study demonstrated that respiratory viruses circulated significantly within both community and hospital settings in the pre-pandemic era, emphasizing the need for improved diagnostic approaches to better manage and treat respiratory infections in urban areas such as Dhaka, Bangladesh. In a post-pandemic world, the insights gained in this study and others like it can help provide evidence-based information to shape how we approach respiratory illness, potentially saving lives by improving diagnostics and treatments.
Do you have someone in your lab who is great at trouble shooting work with unusual sample types? Nominate that person today as a #LabWiz through the Promega Wizard in My Lab program (not available in all areas).
Michele Arduengo
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