(678) Impact of Hygiene Measures on the Incidence of CARV in LTR Before and During the First Year of Covid-19

PURPOSE: CARV infections pose a serious risk for lung transplant recipients as they are prone to develop severe complications. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Switzerland in 2020, the Swiss government, along with many other governments around the world, implemented hygiene measures such as hand hygiene, social distancing and the use of face masks for the general population. In this study we investigated the impact of these hygiene measures on the transmission of community acquired respiratory viruses in lung transplant recipients. METHODS: In this multicentric, retrospective study of lung transplant recipients we investigated two time periods: The year before the COVID-19 pandemic (01.03.2019-29.02.2020) and the first year of the pandemic (01.03.2020-28.02.2021). Data collection occurred with the help of the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study (STCS) database. A CARV infection was defined as the detection of one of the community acquired respiratory viruses by a PCR test in respiratory samples. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze our results. RESULTS: Data from 221 lung transplant recipients from the Swiss lung transplant cohort was evaluated. In the year before the COVID-19 pandemic 157 infections were diagnosed compared to 71 infections in the first year of the pandemic, showing a statistically significant decline of 54% (p<0.001). Additionally, influenza virus infections alone showed a remarkable decline from 17 infections per year prior to COVID-19, to 2 infections after the beginning of the pandemic. The hygiene measures seemed to have the least impact on the transmission of Rhino-/Enteroviruses. No significant difference was found in testing behavior when comparing the two years: 803 vs 925 tests were obtained by two of the three centers during the respective years. CONCLUSION: We found a significant decline in the number of CARV infections in the Swiss lung transplant cohort during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results suggest a relevant impact of the hygiene measures implemented in the population due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of CARV infections.