Clinical Characteristics Associated with Detected Respiratory Microorganism Employing Multiplex Nested PCR in Patients with Presumptive COVID-19 but Negative Molecular Results in Lima, Peru

The COVID-19 pandemic circumstances have varied the pathogens related to acute respiratory infections (ARI), and most specialists have ignored them due to SARS-CoV-2's similar symptomatology. We identify respiratory pathogens with multiplex PCR in samples with presumptive SARS-CoV-2 but negative RT-qPCR results. We performed a retrospective transversal study employing clinical data and nasopharyngeal swab samples from patients with suspected clinical SARS-CoV-2 infection and a negative PCR result in a private laboratory in Lima, Peru. The samples were analyzed using the FilmArray™ respiratory panel. Of 342 samples, we detected at least one pathogen in 50% of the samples. The main ones were rhinovirus (54.38%), influenza A(H3N2) (22.80%), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (14.04%). The clinical characteristics were sore throat (70.18%), cough (58.48%), nasal congestion (56.43%), and fever (40.06%). Only 41.46% and 48.78% of patients with influenza met the definition of influenza-like illness (ILI) by the World Health Organization (WHO) (characterized by cough and fever) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (characterized by fever and cough and sore throat), respectively. A higher prevalence of influenza was associated with ILI by WHO (aPR: 2.331) and ILI by CDC (aPR: 1.892), which was not observed with other respiratory viruses. The clinical characteristic associated with the increased prevalence of rhinovirus was nasal congestion (aPR: 1.84). For patients with ARI and negative PCR results, the leading respiratory pathogens detected were rhinovirus, influenza, and RSV. Less than half of patients with influenza presented ILI, although its presence was specific to the disease.