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
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.