Species spectrum of nonpolio enteroviruses in KhMAO–Yugra during the prepandemic and pandemic periods

BACKGROUND: The characteristics of the regional features of the etiological structure of nonpolio enterovirus infection before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic were evaluated.

AIM: To assess the monitoring of the etiologies of enterovirus infection in the prepandemic and pandemic periods.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from the forms of statistical observation for 2013–2022 and the results of molecular genetic studies of nonpolio EVI were used.

RESULTS: The dynamics of the incidence of enterovirus infection in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug before the COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by high activity levels of the epidemic process, exceeding the average for the Russian Federation by 5–6 times. The urban population, with a predominance of children aged <6 years, mainly contributed to the total incidence of enterovirus infection. During the period with the highest incidence rates in 2017 and 2019, Coxsackie A6 viruses in combination with ECHO30, Coxsackie A9 dominated, and during the period of their decline, the proportion of enterovirus A71, Coxsackie A16 increased. During the pandemic, the calculated trends of dynamics for 2022 were confirmed for dominant viruses and enterovirus A71. In the same year, Coxsackie B2 and ECHO6 viruses were increasingly identified, which were previously circulated irregularly and in isolated cases. The prevalence of CV-A6 in the epidemic process was accompanied by clinical manifestations of infection, mainly as enterovirus vesicular stomatitis, with a high frequency of ECHO30, computer cases were recorded in most cases.

CONCLUSION: Based on the results of monitoring the etiological structure of nonpoliomyelitis enterovirus infection in the prepandemic period, a further increase in morbidity in enterovirus infection is predicted in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Genotyping of the detected strains makes it possible to determine the spectrum of enterovirus strains endemic to the territory and predict their prevalence, which is necessary to prevent the spread of enterovirus infection and ensure sanitary and epidemiological well-being in the region.