Simultaneous Detection of Multiple Respiratory Viruses Among SARS-CoV-2-Positive and Negative Patients by Multiplex TaqMan One-Step Real-Time PCR

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has clinical manifestations similar to other common respiratory viral infections. There are limited data on the frequency of viral respiratory coinfection among patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Iran.

This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of multiple respiratory viruses among SARS-CoV-2-positive and negative patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Iran.

We included oropharyngeal/nasopharyngeal swab specimens of patients suspected of COVID-19 from December 2020 to March 2021. A reliable multiplex TaqMan one-step real-time PCR method was employed to detect 17 viral respiratory pathogens simultaneously. Descriptive analyses were performed to characterize the specimens concerning age, gender, clinical manifestations, and underlying disease.

Multiple respiratory viruses with a frequency of 18.78% were detected in 197 studied patients. Human metapneumovirus was the most prevalent pathogen detected in both SARS-CoV-2-positive (n = 7, 7.7%) and negative (n = 7, 6.6%) patients. Moreover, the frequency rate of viral infection was almost the same in both SARS-CoV-2-positive (18.68%) and negative (18.86%) patients. Altogether, there were no differences in baseline demographic characteristics such as age, sex, clinical symptoms, and comorbidities between the two groups (P > 0.05).

The data presented here expand our understanding of the epidemiology of multiple types of viral respiratory pathogens in suspected COVID-19 patients. Therefore, simultaneous screening of other viral respiratory pathogens will be helpful for clinicians and researchers interested in the control of viral respiratory tract infections.