Community Surveillance of Enterovirus and Respiratory Viruses by Viral Infectious Diseases Contract Laboratories — Taiwan, 2019–2023

DOI: 10.6524/EB.202501_41(1).0001

Kun-Lin Tsai^*, Su-Lin Yang, Chung-Hao Li, Yu-Hsin Cheng, Shu-Jhen Hong, Jyh-Yuan Yang, Ming-Tsan Liu, Shu-Ying Li, Fang-Tzy Wu

2025 Vol.41 NO.1

Correspondence Author： Kun-Lin Tsai^*

Abstract：

        To monitor the disease trends of circulating viruses in the community and improve laboratory testing capacity, Taiwan enrolled viral infectious disease contract laboratories to conduct community surveillance of circulating viruses in 1999. We analyzed surveillance data of respiratory viruses and enteroviruses monitored by contract laboratories from 2019 to October 2023 and explored the impact of control measures on community virus strain surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that during the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020–2022), the overall virus positivity rate was less than 20%, showing a significant decrease compared with the rates before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the total number of infections by several respiratory viruses, including influenza virus, adenovirus, parainfluenza virus, and enterovirus (excluding rhinovirus), dropped significantly. Nevertheless, the number of infections by herpes simplex virus, respiratory syncytial virus, and rhinovirus did not decrease. Instead, the latter two showed an unexpected increase. These results indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic altered the trends of virus circulation in the community. Intense preventive measures effectively reduced virus circulation in the community, but the degree of reduction varied for different viruses and individuals. The surveillance results in this study may serve as a reference for future epidemic prevention and control strategies against emerging infectious diseases.