Seasonal Patterns of Common Respiratory Viral Infections in Immunocompetent and Immunosuppressed Patients

Several respiratory viruses have been shown to have seasonal patterns. The aim of our study was to evaluate and compare these patterns in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients for five different respiratory viruses.

We performed a retrospective analysis of results for 13,591 respiratory tract samples for human metapneumovirus (HMPV), influenza virus, parainfluenza virus (PIV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients. A seasonal pattern was aligned to the data of immunocompetent patients through a logistic regression model of positive and negative test results.

A narrow seasonal pattern (January to March) was documented for HMPV. Most RSV infections were detected in the winter and early spring months, from December to March, but occasional cases of RSV could be found throughout the year. The peak season for PIV-3 was during the summer months, and that for PIV-4 was mostly in autumn. A narrow seasonal pattern emerged for influenza virus as most infections were detected in the winter, in January and February. The seasonal patterns of HMPV, RSV, PIV, and influenza virus were similar for both immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients.

We found no difference in the seasonality of HMPV, RSV, PIV, and influenza virus infections between immunosuppressed and immunocompetent hosts.