The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and other seasonal respiratory virus circulation in Canada: A population-based study

  1. Helen E. Groves
  2. Pierre-Philippe Piché-Renaud
  3. Adriana Peci
  4. Daniel S. Farrar
  5. Steven Buckrell
  6. Christina Bancej
  7. Claire Sevenhuysen
  8. Aaron Campigotto
  9. Jonathan B. Gubbay
  10. Shaun K. Morris

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Abstract

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  1. Version published to 10.1016/j.lana.2021.100015
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.04.15.21255591: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Seasonal coronavirus detection includes seasonal human coronaviruses HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, HCoV-HKU1 and does not include human coronaviruses SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2.
    HCoV-NL63
    suggested: RRID:CVCL_RW88)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Data analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 9.0.2 (Graph-Pad
    GraphPad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, the Territories and Saskatoon Laboratories.
    Joseph’s Healthcare
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    We recognise one potential limitation of this study is that laboratories and hospitals may have become overburdened with implementing large scale testing for SARS-CoV-2 leading to changes in testing and reporting mechanisms for seasonal respiratory viruses compared to previous years. Although, importantly, we did not note a decrease in the total number of laboratory tests performed for each of the seasonal respiratory viruses studied during the pandemic compared to baseline. Indeed, early in the pandemic an apparent increase in the total number of tests performed for each virus of interest was observed (supplemental figure S4). However, it is likely that, compared to previous seasons, variation in testing practices by regional and local laboratories, such as increased periodic community testing, combined influenza/SARS-CoV-2 testing and increased testing for influenza and other seasonal respiratory viruses may have occurred during the 2020/2021 season. Moreover, it is worth noting that approaches for population testing of SARS-CoV-2 and non-SARS-CoV-2 viruses also differed, with testing of SARS-CoV-2 being much more community-based in comparison to other respiratory virus testing. Finally, observed decreases in influenza virus detection may also be related, in part, to population changes in influenza vaccine uptake for the 2020/2021 season. On review of overall vaccine coverage data from the Canadian Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage Survey,32 uptake by adults aged over...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.04.15.21255591 on medRxiv