Pathogens detected from patients with acute respiratory infections negative for SARS-CoV-2, Saitama, Japan, 2020

During the coronavirus disease pandemic in Japan, all patients with respiratory symptoms were initially tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study describes the respiratory pathogens detected from patients who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 at the Saitama Institute of Public Health from January to December 2020.

We performed pathogen retrieval using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction on samples from patients with acute respiratory diseases who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 in Saitama in 2020 and analysed the results by age and symptoms.

There were 1530 patients aged 0-104 years (1727 samples), with 14 pathogens detected from 213 patients (245 samples). Most pathogens were human metapneumovirus (25.4%, 54 cases), rhinovirus (16.4%, 35 cases) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (13.1%, 23 cases). Human metapneumovirus, human coronavirus (but not NL63) and M. pneumoniae were detected in almost all age groups without any significant bias. Seasonal human coronaviruses, human metapneumovirus, M. pneumoniae and several other pathogens were detected until April 2020.

Multiple respiratory pathogens were circulating during 2020 in Saitama, including SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses. We suggest introducing a system that can comprehensively monitor the regional prevalence of all viruses that cause acute respiratory infections.