{"doi":"10.12688/gatesopenres.14155.1","title":"Circulation of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia","abstract":"<ns3:p>\n                    <ns3:bold>Background:</ns3:bold>\n                    In many countries,\n                    <ns3:italic/>\n                    non-pharmaceutical interventions to limit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission resulted in significant reductions in other respiratory viruses. However, similar data from Africa are limited. We explored the extent to which viruses such as influenza and rhinovirus co-circulated with SARS-CoV-2 in The Gambia during the COVID-19 pandemic. \n                  </ns3:p>\n                  <ns3:p>\n                    <ns3:bold>Methods</ns3:bold>\n                    : Between April 2020 and March 2022, respiratory viruses were detected using RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs from 1397 participants with influenza-like illness. An assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 and a viral multiplex RT-PCR assay was used as previously described  to detect influenza A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A and B, parainfluenza viruses 1-4, human metapneumovirus (HMPV), adenovirus, seasonal coronaviruses (229E, OC43, NL63) and human rhinovirus.\n                  </ns3:p>\n                  <ns3:p>\n                    <ns3:bold>Results:</ns3:bold>\n                    Overall virus positivity was 44.2%, with prevalence higher in children &lt;5 years (80%) compared to children aged 5-17 years (53.1%), adults aged 18-50 (39.5%) and &gt;50 years (39.9%), p&lt;0.0001. After SARS-CoV-2 (18.3%), rhinoviruses (10.5%) and influenza viruses (5.5%) were the most prevalent. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was lower in children &lt;5 (4.3%) and 5-17 years (12.7%) than in adults aged 18-50 (19.3%) and &gt;50 years (24.3%), p&lt;0.0001. In contrast, rhinoviruses were most prevalent in children &lt;5 years (28.7%), followed by children aged 5-17 (15.8%), adults aged 18-50 (8.3%) and &gt;50 years (6.3%), p&lt;0.0001. Four SARS-CoV-2 waves occurred, with 36.1%-52.4% SARS-CoV-2 positivity during peak months. Influenza infections were observed in both 2020 and 2021 during the rainy season as expected (peak positivity 16.4%-23.5%). Peaks of rhinovirus were asynchronous to the months when SARS-CoV-2 and influenza peaked.\n                  </ns3:p>\n                  <ns3:p>\n                    <ns3:bold>Conclusion</ns3:bold>\n                    : Our data show that many respiratory viruses continued to circulate during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia, including human rhinoviruses, despite the presence of NPIs during the early stages of the pandemic, and influenza peaks during expected months.\n                  </ns3:p>","journal":"Gates Open Research","year":2022,"id":651371,"datarank":0.31191623125197543,"base_score":2.0794415416798357,"endowment":2.0794415416798357,"self_citation_contribution":0.31191623125197543,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.31191623125197543,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":7,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1698744,"name":"Elina Senghore","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":460763,"name":"Helen Brotherton","orcid":"0000-0001-8798-8557","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698745,"name":"Alasana Saidykhan","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698746,"name":"Samba Jallow","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698747,"name":"Edrissa Krubally","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698748,"name":"Edrisa Sinjanka","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698749,"name":"Morris Ngor Ndene","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698750,"name":"Fabakary Bajo","orcid":null,"position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698751,"name":"Musa M Sanyang","orcid":null,"position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1397740,"name":"Binta Saidy","orcid":"0000-0002-1592-2716","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698753,"name":"Alasana Bah","orcid":"0000-0003-4489-4627","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698754,"name":"Nuredin I Muhammed","orcid":null,"position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":300659,"name":"Karen Forrest","orcid":"0000-0002-9484-0830","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":779079,"name":"Ed Clarke","orcid":"0000-0002-7785-0340","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698755,"name":"Umberto Dalessandro","orcid":null,"position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698756,"name":"Abdul K Sesay","orcid":null,"position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1062256,"name":"Effua Usuf","orcid":null,"position":17,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":647355,"name":"Carla Cerami","orcid":null,"position":18,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":23248,"name":"Anna Roca","orcid":"0000-0001-6034-1868","position":19,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":231920,"name":"Beate Kampmann","orcid":"0000-0002-6546-4709","position":20,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1698757,"name":"Thushan I de Silva","orcid":null,"position":21,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":698959,"name":"Sheikh Jarju","orcid":"0000-0003-2621-8406","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Circulation of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia","abstract":"<ns3:p>\n                    <ns3:bold>Background:</ns3:bold>\n                    In many countries,\n                    <ns3:italic/>\n                    non-pharmaceutical interventions to limit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission resulted in significant reductions in other respiratory viruses. However, similar data from Africa are limited. We explored the extent to which viruses such as influenza and rhinovirus co-circulated with SARS-CoV-2 in The Gambia during the COVID-19 pandemic. \n                  </ns3:p>\n                  <ns3:p>\n                    <ns3:bold>Methods</ns3:bold>\n                    : Between April 2020 and March 2022, respiratory viruses were detected using RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs from 1397 participants with influenza-like illness. An assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 and a viral multiplex RT-PCR assay was used as previously described  to detect influenza A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A and B, parainfluenza viruses 1-4, human metapneumovirus (HMPV), adenovirus, seasonal coronaviruses (229E, OC43, NL63) and human rhinovirus.\n                  </ns3:p>\n                  <ns3:p>\n                    <ns3:bold>Results:</ns3:bold>\n                    Overall virus positivity was 44.2%, with prevalence higher in children &lt;5 years (80%) compared to children aged 5-17 years (53.1%), adults aged 18-50 (39.5%) and &gt;50 years (39.9%), p&lt;0.0001. After SARS-CoV-2 (18.3%), rhinoviruses (10.5%) and influenza viruses (5.5%) were the most prevalent. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was lower in children &lt;5 (4.3%) and 5-17 years (12.7%) than in adults aged 18-50 (19.3%) and &gt;50 years (24.3%), p&lt;0.0001. In contrast, rhinoviruses were most prevalent in children &lt;5 years (28.7%), followed by children aged 5-17 (15.8%), adults aged 18-50 (8.3%) and &gt;50 years (6.3%), p&lt;0.0001. Four SARS-CoV-2 waves occurred, with 36.1%-52.4% SARS-CoV-2 positivity during peak months. Influenza infections were observed in both 2020 and 2021 during the rainy season as expected (peak positivity 16.4%-23.5%). Peaks of rhinovirus were asynchronous to the months when SARS-CoV-2 and influenza peaked.\n                  </ns3:p>\n                  <ns3:p>\n                    <ns3:bold>Conclusion</ns3:bold>\n                    : Our data show that many respiratory viruses continued to circulate during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia, including human rhinoviruses, despite the presence of NPIs during the early stages of the pandemic, and influenza peaks during expected months.\n                  </ns3:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"19965766","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":null,"authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation","grant_id":"INV-015823","title":null},{"funder_name":"UK Research and Innovation grant","grant_id":"MC_PC_19084","title":null},{"funder_name":"Global Challenge Research Fund award from The University of Sheffield","grant_id":"MC_UP_A900/1122","title":null}],"total_grants":3,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://doi.org/10.12688/gatesopenres.14155.1","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://gatesopenresearch.org/articles/6-148/v1/xml","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://gatesopenresearch.org/articles/6-148/v1/pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://gatesopenresearch.org/articles/6-148/v1/iparadigms","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/197286/1/04fb0693-4bfd-4cc1-960c-27882f556988_14155_-_sheikh_jarju_v2.pdf","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9883272/pdf/gatesopenres-6-15924.pdf","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":[],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":[],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-10T08:16:39.940812Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}