Incidence and transmission associated with respiratory viruses in an acute care facility: An observational study

Area of Science:

• Clinical Microbiology
• Infectious Diseases
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Understanding pre-pandemic respiratory virus transmission is crucial for public health preparedness.
• Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) represent a significant burden on healthcare systems.
• Identifying common respiratory pathogens and transmission patterns informs infection control strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the prevalence and patterns of respiratory virus detection in a healthcare setting over three pre-COVID-19 seasons.
• To estimate the proportion of respiratory virus detections attributable to hospital-acquired infections.
• To identify the most frequent respiratory viruses associated with transmission clusters.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 16,273 respiratory virus assays performed over three pre-pandemic seasons.
• Calculation of the frequency of detecting at least one respiratory virus per assay.
• Estimation of hospital-acquired infection rates for specific viruses and identification of transmission clusters.

Main Results:

• A total of 22.9% (3,726) of assays detected at least one respiratory virus.
• The frequency of hospital-acquired infections varied by virus, ranging from 6.9% for influenza A/B to 24.7% for adenovirus.
• Rhinovirus/enterovirus (70 clusters) and influenza A/B (62 clusters) were the most common viruses associated with transmission clusters.

Conclusions:

• Respiratory viruses were frequently detected in healthcare settings prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Hospital-acquired respiratory viral infections are a notable concern, with significant variation among different pathogens.
• Rhinovirus/enterovirus and influenza A/B were key drivers of transmission clusters, highlighting targets for infection control.