key: cord-0274916-tg90lc5m
authors: Malampy, R.; Ganz, T.; DeOliveira, G. M.; Le, C. T.; Li, K. M.; Auclair, J.
title: Epidemiological Interactions of Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 within a University Population During Omicron B.1.1.529 Outbreak
date: 2022-05-27
journal: nan
DOI: 10.1101/2022.05.26.22275641
sha: 4964e16d842b33c7c1da911364daf6084260f0ca
doc_id: 274916
cord_uid: tg90lc5m

The COVID-19 Pandemic has prompted innovation and research to further understand not only SARS-CoV-2, but other respiratory viruses as well. Since the start of the pandemic there has been a lack in influenza collection and surveillance. In October 2021 the Life Sciences Testing Center at Northeastern University implemented the TaqPath COVID-19, Flu A, Flu B combo kit to test for multiple respiratory diseases among the Universitys population. During this time the SARS- CoV-2 variant of concern, Omicron B.1.1.529, became the dominant strain in the greater Boston area. During this time an inverse correlation in the detection of positive SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A was observed. More data is needed to determine if this observed inverse correlation on positivity rate is linked to public health measures or biological mechanism within the immune system.

Infectious disease epidemiology has recently suffered operational burdens as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has inexorably diverted resources from routine monitoring [1] . Continuous surveillance of influenza virus has been vital for vaccine production. As enveloped RNA viruses that target, and transmit via, the respiratory system, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza infection present in similar symptoms of fever, headache, pharyngitis and tracheobronchitis. They distinguish themselves on a mechanistic basis as SARS-CoV-2 interacts with angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor on epithelial and endothelial tissue for cell entry, while influenza associates with sialic acid groups on surface glycoproteins of epithelial cells [2] . (Fig. 1A) . A sharp decrease of Influenza A cases at a rate of 12.5% was observed . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.

The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 27, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.26.22275641 doi: medRxiv preprint between December 27, 2021, and January 7, 2022, while SARS-CoV-2 cases increased at a rate of 3.75% during the same period ( Fig. 1B-C) . With news of the rapidly spreading Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, samples reactive for SARS-CoV-2 were crossed referenced on the TaqPath™ COVID-19 Combo Kit, whose RT-qPCR targets permit proxy identification via S-gene target failure (SGTF) [3] . Retrospective analysis indicated a demonstrable suppression of influenza cases with the surge in Omicron B.1.1.529 (Fig. 1D ).

Our observation supports possible SARS-CoV-2 dominance via unique host interactions as well as the potential occurrence of priming the immune system to limit co-infection [4] . Symptomatic testing [5, 6] . The inverse relationship SARS-CoV-2 and influenza demonstrated in this analysis advocates for health care providers to employ more complete respiratory panels for suspected viral infections to aid in monitoring of strain dominance and co-infection.

Our lab, the Life Sciences Testing Center (Burlington, MA), has performed SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnostics for the Northeastern University population since August 2020 using the TaqPath™ COVID-19 Combo kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, CAT#: A47814). As previously reported, collection of anterior nare swabs was conducted at facilities designated for either symptomatic or non-symptomatic individuals [3] . Individuals were directed to submit a sample at the symptomatic site based on whether they were experiencing COVID-19-related symptoms or were close contacts of a COVID-19 case. On October 25 th , . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)

The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 27, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.26.22275641 doi: medRxiv preprint

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. CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.

The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 27, 2022.