Epidemiology of respiratory viruses in patients with severe acute respiratory infections and influenza-like illness in Suriname.

Background: Influenza has been well studied in developed countries with temperate climates, in contrast to low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries, thus hampering the effort to attain representative global data. Furthermore, data on non-influenza respiratory infections are also limited. Insight in viral respiratory infections in Suriname, a tropical LMIC in South America, would contribute to improved local preventive measures and a better global understanding of respiratory viruses.

Methods: From May 2016 through April 2018, all patients (n = 1096) enrolled in the national severe acute respiratory infection and influenza-like illness surveillance were screened for the presence of 10 respiratory viruses with singleplex RT-PCR.

Results: The overall viral-positive detection rate was 45.3%, specified as RSV (19.4%), influenza (15.5%), hMPV (4.9%), AdV (4.6%), and parainfluenza (3.8%). Co-infections were detected in 6.2% of the positive cases. Lower overall positivity was observed in the SARI vs ILI surveillance and influenza prevalence was higher in outpatients (45.0% vs 6.7%), while RSV exhibited the reverse (4.8% vs 23.8%). Respiratory infections in general were more common in children than in adults (54.4% vs 29.5%), although children were significantly less affected by influenza (11.5% vs 22.7%). None of the respiratory viruses displayed a clear seasonal pattern, and viral interference was observed between RSV and influenza.

Conclusions: The comprehensive information presented for Suriname, including first data on non-influenza respiratory viruses, displayed distinct differences between the viruses, in seasonality, within age groups and between SARI/ILI, accentuating the need, especially for tropical LMIC countries to continue ongoing surveillance and accumulate local data.