0
0
SYDNEY, May 31 . Researchers from the University of Sydney have led a study that revealed how the pandemic has changed normal winter viruses in Australia, and could lead to the emergence of unique, out-of-season variants.
The study, published in the Nature Communications journal and released to the public on Tuesday, showed that Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a common winter virus, had its regular patterns disrupted during the pandemic, due to border closures and lockdowns.
RSV is a common cold-like virus, however, in very young children, it can lead to severe lung infections such as pneumonia.
Lead researcher John-Sebastian Eden, a senior research fellow from the University of Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, said that it was revealed that nearly all strains of RSV were eliminated in Australia from the beginning of the pandemic.
“Our genetic studies showed that most of the previous RSV strains had gone ‘extinct’ and that for each outbreak only a single genetic lineage had survived all the lockdowns,” he said.
The researchers genetically sequenced hundreds of RSV positive samples collected before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and tracked the lineage of each strain.
Before the pandemic, RSV-A and RSV-B circulated at similar levels, but after, RSV-A made up 95 percent of all cases and RSV-B had all but disappeared.
With no existing vaccine for RSV, a sudden influx of eliminated variants could have severe impacts.
“We need to be vigilant — some viruses may have all but disappeared, but will likely rebound in the near future, possibly at unusual times and with stronger impact,” said Eden.
Australia’s health systems have come under increasing pressure in the winter months as winter viruses and COVID-19 continue to circulate in the community.
Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), reported 1,140 cases of RSV in the week ending May 21, up from 766 cases the previous week.
In the same week 493 people were admitted to state hospitals with COVID-19 and 150 people with a winter flu.
“We need to be prepared for large outbreaks of RSV outside of normal seasonal periods and our health systems to be prepared,” said Eden.
