Co-infections of SARS-CoV-2 with respiratory syncytial virus and human influenza A in patients with symptoms of COVID-19 in Ghana: A retrospective study.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic the aetiology of respiratory illnesses were narrowed to SARS-CoV-2. This prevented diagnosis of other pathogens and patients were not notified of the accurate diagnosis of their illnesses when SARS-CoV-2 was absent. It is therefore important to look back and determine what else was present but was missed.

Objective: This retrospective study sought to gain insights into prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza A alongside SARS-CoV-2 in patients who reported with clinical symptoms of respiratory illnesses.

Methods: Samples from patients who had reported of respiratory symptoms were selected at random from a pool. RNA was extracted and RT-PCR was performed for SARS-CoV-2, RSV and Influenza A in parallel. Data on the clinical symptoms was extracted from case-base forms and analysed.

Results: Of the 400 symptomatic samples tested, prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and RSV was 20.3 %, 2.0 % and 0.5 % respectively. Only one sample tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A. About 77 % of the symptomatic cases did not test positive for any of the three agents. Cough (79 %) was the most common symptom followed by fever and chills, headache, sore throat and runny nose.

Conclusion: The large proportion of symptomatic cases that tested negative for all three respiratory viruses raises a flag and a need for more investigations into the actual burden of respiratory aetiologic agents during the pandemic. With the low levels of co-infections, parallel testing may not be needed however, a strong case for multiplex tests for respiratory agents exists.