The pandemic gap of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Respiratory viruses typically exhibit seasonal patterns, posing ongoing public health challenges. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic altered these patterns dramatically, with many common respiratory viruses disappearing from circulation for extended periods. Here we analyzed over three million diagnostic tests from a metropolitan healthcare system in New York City over 7 years, tracking severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and eight common respiratory viruses before and during the pandemic. Following the initial SARS-CoV-2 wave in the spring of 2020, influenza A/B, respiratory syncytial virus, seasonal coronaviruses, parainfluenza, and human metapneumoviruses were absent for months to years, a phenomenon that we termed the "pandemic gap." This disruption likely r

SUBMITTER: Simon V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12802283 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature