co-infection rates between sars-cov-2 and rsv in oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal aspirate and saliva samples of covid-19 patients, shiraz, south of iran

Statement of the problem: determining the prevalence of respiratory viruses' coinfection with coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) is essential to defining its true clinical influence. purpose: this study aimed to evaluate co-infection rates between severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2) and respiratory syncytial virus (rsv) in infected patients in shiraz, south of iran. materials and method: in a cross-sectional descriptive study, oropharyngeal, nasopharyn-geal aspirate (npa), and saliva samples of 50 covid-19 patients who were referred to ali-asghar hospital (shiraz, iran) from march to august 2020, were collected. a control group consisted of age and sex-matched healthy participants. the nasopharyngeal and oropharyn-geal aspirates were collected by sterile swabs. all cases were hospitalized, and all sars-cov-2 patients had a fever and respiratory symptoms. the samples were packed in a vial with 1 ml of transport medium and transported to the valfagre specialty laboratory, where they were tested for rsv using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (pcr). results: 100 nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal aspirates and saliva samples including 50 healthy controls (24 females, 26 males) and 50 covid-19 patients' samples (27 males and 23 females) were studied. there was no significant difference regarding age as well as gen-der between both groups (p> 0.05). none of the healthy subjects was infected with rsv; however, 5(10%) patients from covid-19 group were infected with the rsv virus. chi-square test did not show a significant difference between rsv infection in covid-19 pa-tients and healthy subjects. conclusion: the outcome of present research showed that concurrent rsv with covid 19 infection might be seen in hospitalized patients in shiraz southwest of iran. for more relia-ble findings, further research on bigger populations, including more pathogens in several places around the country, and considering the severity of symptoms is required.