Rhinovirus-Infected Patients in the COVID-19 Pandemic Period

Yuji Watanabe; Yasuhiro Kamioka; Masafumi Seki

doi:10.2147/IDR.S300001

Rhinovirus-Infected Patients in the COVID-19 Pandemic Period

Infect Drug Resist. 2021 Feb 17:14:609-611. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S300001. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yuji Watanabe^{1

2}, Yasuhiro Kamioka^{1

3}, Masafumi Seki¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital, Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan.
² Laboratory for Clinical Microbiology, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital, Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan.
³ Department of Pharmacy, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital, Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan.

Abstract

Human rhinovirus (HRV) is known as one of the most important respiratory pathogens, and the clinical characteristics of HRV infection might be similar to those of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We identified 11 HRV-infected patients by polymerase chain reactions of the HRV genes among 151 outpatients with fever. All nine adult patients had underlying diseases and finally improved with the appropriate treatment in this COVID-19 pandemic period. Differential diagnosis between HRV and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection will be needed to save lives and medical resources.

Keywords: PCR; SARS-CoV-2; antimicrobial stewardship; human rhinovirus.