{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T06:19:02Z","timestamp":1783059542652,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783036800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>COVID-19-related non-pharmaceutical interventions and their subsequent relaxation may alter the epidemiology of pediatric respiratory pathogens. However, hospital-based data from subtropical southern China using a consistent multiplex PCR platform remain limited. This study described changes in pediatric respiratory pathogen detection patterns in Guangzhou, with emphasis on a season-matched comparison before and after the lifting of restrictions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methodology<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We retrospectively analyzed 2,213 children 0 to &amp;lt;16 years who presented with fever or respiratory symptoms at Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center. Nasopharyngeal swabs collected during the pre-lifting period (November 2021\u2013October 2022) and post-lifting period (February\u2013May 2023) were tested using the same specimen type, nucleic-acid extraction system, PCR instrument, and 12-pathogen multiplex PCR panel. To reduce seasonal bias, the primary pathogen comparison was restricted to February\u2013May 2022 vs. February\u2013May 2023. Categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Overall, 843 of 2,213 children (38.1%) tested positive for at least one pathogen. Compared with February\u2013May 2022, February\u2013May 2023 showed higher detection rates of Influenza A (0.64% vs. 16.60%), RSV (5.72% vs. 14.67%), and HRV (1.06% vs. 5.79%), and lower detection rates of Influenza B (7.84% vs. 0.39%) and HMPV (10.59% vs. 0.39%). The post-lifting cohort included a higher proportion of infants (&amp;lt;1 year: 14.29% vs. 8.50%) and higher proportions of fever, wheezing, and lower respiratory tract diagnoses; these clinical comparisons should be interpreted cautiously because health-care-seeking behavior and admission thresholds may have changed after lifting restrictions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>After the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, pediatric respiratory pathogen detection in Guangzhou shifted toward increased Influenza A, RSV, and HRV activity in the season-matched comparison, with a younger patient composition and more lower-respiratory clinical diagnoses among tested children. These findings support continued multiplex surveillance and age-targeted prevention strategies, but causal attribution to the lifting of restrictions should be made cautiously because of residual confounding by seasonality, SARS-CoV-2 circulation, and health-care-seeking behavior.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2026.1755382","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T05:38:34Z","timestamp":1783057114000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Season-matched comparison of pediatric respiratory pathogen detection patterns before and after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in Guangzhou"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Liang","family":"Hua","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Center Laboratory, Guangzhou Women and Children\u2019s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University","place":["Guangzhou, 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