The Clinical and Genomic Epidemiology of Rhinovirus in Homeless Shelters-King County, Washington

Eric J Chow; Amanda M Casto; Pavitra Roychoudhury; Peter D Han; Hong Xie; Brian Pfau; Tien V Nguyen; Jaydee Sereewit; Julia H Rogers; Sarah N Cox; Caitlin R Wolf; Melissa A Rolfes; Emily Mosites; Timothy M Uyeki; Alexander L Greninger; James P Hughes; M Mia Shim; Nancy Sugg; Jeffrey S Duchin; Lea M Starita; Janet A Englund; Helen Y Chu

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiac239

The Clinical and Genomic Epidemiology of Rhinovirus in Homeless Shelters-King County, Washington

J Infect Dis. 2022 Oct 7;226(Suppl 3):S304-S314. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac239.

Authors

Eric J Chow¹, Amanda M Casto^{1

2}, Pavitra Roychoudhury^{2

3}, Peter D Han^{4

5}, Hong Xie³, Brian Pfau^{4

5}, Tien V Nguyen³, Jaydee Sereewit⁶, Julia H Rogers^{1

7}, Sarah N Cox^{1

7}, Caitlin R Wolf¹, Melissa A Rolfes⁸, Emily Mosites⁹, Timothy M Uyeki⁸, Alexander L Greninger^{2

6}, James P Hughes^{2

10}, M Mia Shim^{11

12}, Nancy Sugg¹², Jeffrey S Duchin^{1

11}, Lea M Starita^{4

5}, Janet A Englund^{13

14}, Helen Y Chu¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
² Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
³ Virology Division, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁴ Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁵ Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁶ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁸ Influenza Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁹ Office of the Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹¹ Public Health-Seattle and King County, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹² Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹³ Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹⁴ Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Abstract

Background: Rhinovirus (RV) is a common cause of respiratory illness in all people, including those experiencing homelessness. RV epidemiology in homeless shelters is unknown.

Methods: We analyzed data from a cross-sectional homeless shelter study in King County, Washington, October 2019-May 2021. Shelter residents or guardians aged ≥3 months reporting acute respiratory illness completed questionnaires and submitted nasal swabs. After 1 April 2020, enrollment expanded to residents and staff regardless of symptoms. Samples were tested by multiplex RT-PCR for respiratory viruses. A subset of RV-positive samples was sequenced.

Results: There were 1066 RV-positive samples with RV present every month of the study period. RV was the most common virus before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (43% and 77% of virus-positive samples, respectively). Participants from family shelters had the highest prevalence of RV. Among 131 sequenced samples, 33 RV serotypes were identified with each serotype detected for ≤4 months.

Conclusions: RV infections persisted through community mitigation measures and were most prevalent in shelters housing families. Sequencing showed a diversity of circulating RV serotypes, each detected over short periods of time. Community-based surveillance in congregate settings is important to characterize respiratory viral infections during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clinical trials registration: NCT04141917.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; congregate setting; epidemiology; genomic analysis; homeless shelter; people experiencing homelessness; respiratory pathogen; respiratory viral infection; rhinovirus.

Publication types

Clinical Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Enterovirus Infections* / epidemiology
Genomics
Humans
Ill-Housed Persons*
Pandemics
Rhinovirus / genetics
Viruses*
Washington / epidemiology

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04141917

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Associated data

Grants and funding