Shehu Nathan Yakubu, Okolo Mark Ojogba, Ameh Emmanuel Ameh, Thankgod Daniel Geofrey, Morenikeji Oluwatoyin Ruth, Ogbaji Ferdinand Ibu, Pam Dung Davou, Dami Filibus Danjuma, Luka Pam Dachung
The West African Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.
Department of Internal Medicine, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.
Niger Med J. 2025 Apr 3;66(1):357-363. doi: 10.71480/nmj.v66i1.342. eCollection 2025 Jan-Feb.
Influenza virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome virus-2 (SARS CoV-2) are known to cause respiratory disease in humans that may be fatal. They have caused epidemics and constitute significant public health challenges because of their ability to spread and cause severe disease. Co-infection with both viruses has been shown to increase the odds of fatality among affected patients. Our study aimed to investigate co-infection with influenza among patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in Jos, Plateau State.
We carried out a cross-sectional study using stored nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal samples of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 using GeneXpert. The samples were collected at our institution and stored at -80 °C. The samples were analysed for influenza co-infection using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.
Two-hundred-and-forty-one (241) stored samples of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were analysed. None of the samples tested positive for the influenza virus.
We found no case of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 co-infection among the patients studied. This suggests that the prevalence of influenza virus infection may be low in our setting and partly explains the relatively benign outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infections in our region.
已知流感病毒和严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）可导致人类呼吸系统疾病，甚至可能致命。它们引发了疫情，因其传播能力和导致严重疾病的能力而构成重大公共卫生挑战。两种病毒的合并感染已被证明会增加受影响患者的死亡几率。我们的研究旨在调查高原州乔斯市2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）患者中流感病毒的合并感染情况。
我们采用横断面研究，使用通过GeneXpert诊断为COVID-19的患者储存的鼻咽和口咽样本。样本在我们机构收集，并储存在-80°C。使用实时逆转录聚合酶链反应分析样本中的流感病毒合并感染情况。
对241份诊断为COVID-19的患者储存样本进行了分析。没有样本检测出流感病毒呈阳性。
在我们研究的患者中未发现流感病毒与SARS-CoV-2合并感染的病例。这表明在我们的环境中流感病毒感染的患病率可能较低，部分解释了我们地区SARS-CoV-2感染相对良性的结果。
