Hu Ting, Zhuang Yali, Zou Lirong, Li Zhencui, Li Yihong, Li Yan, Kang Min, Deng Aiping
Institute of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 160 Qunxian Road, Guangzhou, 511430, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Institute of Pathogenic Microbiology, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
Respir Res. 2025 Jul 2;26(1):222. doi: 10.1186/s12931-025-03308-4.
Acute respiratory infections are caused by a diverse range of pathogens. The study aims to elucidate the epidemic characteristics of acute respiratory pathogens in Guangdong Province during the first year after the COVID-19 pandemic.
We collected sentinel surveillance data of 12 respiratory pathogens from multi-pathogen surveillance among acute respiratory infections from August 2023 to July 2024 in Guangdong Province, China. We also collected surveillance data on hospitalized pneumonia as a supplementary. We calculated the test positivity for each pathogen and performed pairwise correlation analysis.
Multi-pathogen surveillance revealed that over half of acute respiratory infections tested positive for at least one pathogen. The most commonly detected pathogens were influenza virus (19.70%, 3,211/16,296), (10.99%, 1,343/12,215), and rhinovirus/enteroviruses (8.66%, 1,411/16,296). In the autumn and winter of 2023, the test positivity of influenza virus surpassed 20% starting in October, indicating that the winter epidemic period arrived earlier than that in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period (typically December or later). The overall positivity was highest in the 0–14 age group (60.07%, 4,797/7,903), and pathogen distribution varied significantly across age groups. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations between rhinovirus/enteroviruses and other pathogens, such as respiratory syncytial virus. Hospitalized pneumonia surveillance showed the proportion of infections increased to 17.08% (3,707/21,701) in 2023, surpassing the pre-pandemic average of 10.52%.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed different characterization of the pathogen causing acute respiratory infections in Guangdong Province. The activity of influenza and initially exhibited shifts compared to the pre-pandemic period. Pathogen distribution varied significantly across age groups, highlighting high-risk populations for specific pathogens. Continuous multi-pathogen surveillance is essential for understanding their epidemiological characteristics and formulating effective prevention and control measures, including vaccination strategies, clinical interventions.
急性呼吸道感染由多种病原体引起。本研究旨在阐明新冠疫情后第一年广东省急性呼吸道病原体的流行特征。
我们收集了2023年8月至2024年7月中国广东省急性呼吸道感染多病原体监测中12种呼吸道病原体的哨点监测数据。我们还收集了住院肺炎监测数据作为补充。我们计算了每种病原体的检测阳性率，并进行了成对相关性分析。
多病原体监测显示，超过一半的急性呼吸道感染至少对一种病原体检测呈阳性。最常检测到的病原体是流感病毒（19.70%，3211/16296）、（10.99%，1343/12215）和鼻病毒/肠道病毒（8.66%，1411/16296）。在2023年秋冬，流感病毒检测阳性率从10月起超过20%，表明冬季流行期比新冠疫情前时期（通常为12月或更晚）来得更早。总体阳性率在0至14岁年龄组最高（60.07%，4797/7903），病原体分布在各年龄组之间差异显著。相关性分析显示鼻病毒/肠道病毒与其他病原体（如呼吸道合胞病毒）之间存在显著正相关。住院肺炎监测显示，2023年感染比例增至17.08%（3707/21701），超过疫情前平均水平10.52%。
新冠疫情后，我们观察到广东省引起急性呼吸道感染的病原体有不同特征。流感和的活动与疫情前时期相比最初出现了变化。病原体分布在各年龄组之间差异显著，突出了特定病原体的高危人群。持续的多病原体监测对于了解其流行病学特征和制定有效的预防和控制措施（包括疫苗接种策略、临床干预）至关重要。
