Weak association of coinfection by SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory
viruses with severe cases and death
Abstract
Background SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus described for the first
time in China in December 2019. This virus can cause a disease that
ranges in spectrum from asymptomatic to severe respiratory disease with
multiorgan failure, and the most severe cases are associated with some
comorbidities and patient age. However, there are patients who do not
have those risk factors who still develop serious disease. Methods In
this study, we identified the presence of other respiratory viruses in
positive cases of COVID-19 in Mexico to determine if any coinfections
were correlated with more severe manifestations of COVID-19. We analysed
103 confirmed cases of COVID-19 using RT-qPCR for the detection of 16
other respiratory viruses. Results Of the cases analysed, 14 (13.6%)
were cases of coinfection, and 92% of them never required
hospitalization, even when comorbidities and advanced age were involved.
There weren’t significant differences between the presence of
comorbidities and the mean ages of the groups Conclusions These results
suggest that coinfection is not related to more severe COVID-19 and
that, depending on the virus involved, it could even lead to a better
prognosis. We believe that our findings may lay the groundwork for new
studies aimed at determining the biological mechanism by which this
phenomenon occurs and for proposing corresponding strategies to limit
the progression to severe cases of COVID-19.