Irregular reemergence of pathogens after lifting of pandemic restrictions - Matthias Maiwald, MD
 
Dr. Matthias Maiwald presents on the patterns of pathogen re-emergence after the COVID-19 pandemic. This is based on respiratory multiplex PCR data from a major women’s and children’s hospital in Singapore between 2019 and 2023. The dataset includes 83,250 results, mostly from paediatric patients. Pandemic response measures disrupted the usual patterns of respiratory pathogens, and the subsequent relaxation affected their re-emergence. Nonenveloped viruses returned first, and some viruses (e.g. respiratory syncytial virus [RSV]) had out-of-season peaks that were higher than pre-pandemic peaks, and some other viruses (e.g. adenovirus and metapneumovirus) had unusual phases of high activity. Bordetella pertussis (agent of whooping cough) remained near-absent until the end of 2023, while Bordetella parapertussis (agent of parapertussis) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (agent of childhood pneumonia) started to return around March 2023. Population-based immunological susceptibility and unusual exposure patterns presumably played a role in these observed phenomena. View YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/Yx_VyP3Z9wI

These data were presented in E-Poster format at the Pathology Update 2024 by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Adelaide, Australia, 1-3 March 2024.

Literature:

Wan WY, Thoon KC, Loo LH, Chan KS, Oon LLE, Ramasamy A, Maiwald M. Trends in respiratory virus infections during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, 2020. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(6):e2115973. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.15973 

Maiwald M, Soong HY, Wan WY, Loo LH. Irregular and out-of-season re-emergence of respiratory pathogens after lifting of COVID-19 pandemic response measures, Singapore. E-Poster Abstract. Pathology 2024; 56 (Suppl. 1): S119-S120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pathol.2023.12.393 
   
Health Watch USAsup>sm Meeting Feb. 21, 2024.