AUTHOR=Dudman Susanne , Klundby Ingvild , Øverbø Joakim , Numanovic Sanela , Nilsen Mariann , Lind Andreas , Holberg-Petersen Mona , Landaas Elisabeth Toverud 

TITLE=Trends in the enterovirus surveillance in Oslo, Norway before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Virology

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2023

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/virology/articles/10.3389/fviro.2023.1343781

DOI=10.3389/fviro.2023.1343781

ISSN=2673-818X

ABSTRACT=Enteroviruses have the potential to cause both high morbidity and mortality especially in children.High season in Norway is between August and November, but this seasonality was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods:In this study, we describe the enterovirus surveillance in Norway before and during the COVID-19 pandemic including the years from the start of 2016 until the end of 2022. Screening of enterovirus was performed by both laboratory developed methods and FilmArray® ME Panel. Relevant samples were typed,Typing was done in mostly samples by VP1 sequencing.Seventy-four percent of all cases occurred in infants under five years of age. A significant reduction in positive cases was observed during the peak years of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the years before. Pre-pandemic, a wide range of types from all four enterovirus species were detected. During the years with COVID-19 infection control measures, significantly fewer enterovirus types were found along with a substantial reduction in the detection rate.Enterovirus surveillance discovered a large amount of different types mainly affecting infants. The positivity rate was markedly reduced during the pandemic in 2020-2022 and fewer types occurred.