The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection: A Narrative Review

Yu-Chuan Chuang,1 Kuan-Pei Lin,1 Li-An Wang,1 Ting-Kuang Yeh,2,3 Po-Yu Liu2– 6 1Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 2Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 3Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 4Ph.D. in Translational Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan; 5Rong Hsing Research Center for Translational Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan; 6Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, TaiwanCorrespondence: Po-Yu Liu, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, No. 1650, Sec. 4, Taiwan Blvd., Xitun Dist, Taichung City, 407219, Taiwan, Tel +886 4 2359 2525, Email liupoyu@gmail.comAbstract: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most common respiratory viruses. It not only affects young children but also the elderly and immunocompromised patients. After the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era, a dramatic reduction in RSV activity was found, which coincided with the implementation of public health and social measures (PHSMs). However, the correlation is more complicated than we initially thought. After PHSMs were gradually lifted, a seasonality shift and a delayed RSV outbreak with greater number of infected patients were found in numerous countries, such as Israel, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, France, United States, and Japan. Several hypotheses and possible reasons explaining the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and RSV were mentioned. Since RSV vaccinations are still under investigation, administration of palivizumab should be considered in high-risk patients. In the post-COVID-19 era, greater attention should be paid to a further resurgence of RSV. In this narrative r