Investigation of respiratory tract coinfections in Coronavirus disease 2019 infected and suspected cases.

Objective: The aim of our study is to determine the risk of coinfection with COVID-19 due to the high prevalence of viral agents in Istanbul in autumn (September, October, and November) and winter (December and January) and to investigate the effects of age, gender, season and clinical features on the development of coinfection with COVID-19.

Methods: In the routine studies of our hospital, COVID-19, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTA kit, Turkiye) and Multiplex PCR Bio-Fire (Bio Merieux Company, France) methods were studied from the nasopharyngeal swab sample and the data were recorded. A total of 400 people with a mean age (7.91±17.80) were included in the study by retrospective scanning.

Results: Considering the virus distribution, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19, rhino/entero virus did not show a significant difference in autumn and winter, while H. metapneumovirus, adeno virus, influenza A significantly higher rates were observed in winter months. Parainfluenza (1, 2, 3, 4) and Corona OC43 were detected at a higher rate in autumn compared to other viruses. Double and triple coinfection rates with other viral agents were high for 2 years and younger.

Conclusion: The risk of coinfection of COVID-19 with influenza A, RSV, parainfluenza, and rhino/entero virus was found to be higher than other viral agents. Especially in winter, the risk of coinfection with influenza A and COVID-19 increases. In terms of treatment management, coinfection should be investigated in risky patients and influenza a vaccine should be offered to risky groups.