The temporal association between different non-influenza respiratory viruses and invasive streptococcal disease is poorly understood. We sought to investigate the temporal association between invasive group A streptococcal disease (iGAS) and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) with respiratory viral infections from 2017-2022 in children from Hamilton County, Ohio.
Invasive streptococcal disease cases were identified by microbiological cultures and notifiable disease reports at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Respiratory viral infections were detected using prospective, active surveillance of children with acute respiratory illness (ARI) and respiratory virus molecular testing through the New Vaccine Surveillance Network. Poisson time-series regression was used to model weekly counts of invasive streptococcal disease by season and cumulative counts of respiratory virus infections by genus over the previous 2 and 4-weeks.
Overall, there were 47 cases of iGAS, 49 cases of IPD, and 10,809 respiratory virus infections identified between 2017-2022. For invasive streptococcal disease, the most common culture sources were blood (41%), bronchoalveolar lavage or pleural fluid (35%), and tissue or wound (11%). Most cases of invasive streptococcal disease occurred in spring (n=34) and winter (n=24). Influenza virus detections in the prior 2 or 4 weeks were temporally associated with iGAS while rhinovirus/enterovirus detections were negatively associated with iGAS.
In addition to the known temporal association with influenza viruses, we found a negative temporal association between rhinoviruses/enteroviruses and iGAS which has not been previously described. Further understanding of these specific viral-bacterial interactions may help inform public health interventions to mitigate invasive streptococcal disease risk.
