Viral Co-pathogens in COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Syndrome – What Did We Learn From the First Year of Pandemic?

We assessed the annual occurrence and diversity of respiratory pathogens in SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative patients admitted due to acute respiratory illness (ARI). A multiplex-PCR panel targeting 23 microorganisms detected other respiratory pathogens in only 8/476 (2%) COVID-19 versus 87/463 (19%) non-COVID-19 ARI patients. Diversity and rates of pathogens vastly differed from previous years yet showed seasonal variance.