Respiratory Syncytial Virus in During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Calm before the Storm or a Real Decline in RSV Positive Cases?

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) dispatches millions of children and high-risk adults to the hospital every year. In many cases, RSV leads to the death of patients. Some circumstances in the world influence the rise and fall of RSV. Among these cases, respiratory disease pandemics such as the H1N1pdm09 and COVID-19 can be mentioned. According to previous studies in 2009, the H1N1 influenza pandemic has changed the circulation pattern of respiratory viruses for several years, especially RSV. One of the explanations for these changes in the circulation of other respiratory viruses can be some approaches such as closing schools and observing social distancing to overcome epidemics. In this study, using past data and newly published studies, this change of patterns has been investigated in influenza and covid-19 pandemics. Based on previous studies, we have found that measures such as social distancing and school closures have also affected the type of RSV circulation in the Covid-19 pandemic. However, positive cases continue to spread despite the changes in the frequency of RSV, and the possibility of RSV epidemics in the coming years is not far from expected.