Influenza, RSV Associated With Increased Risk For Postviral Streptococcus Pneumoniae Infection, Study Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (7/11, Nye) reported a study found that “postviral secondary Streptococcus pneumoniae infection risk is higher after influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) but not after COVID-19.” The researchers “sourced data from the Veterans Affairs Informatics and Computing Infrastructure” between 2015 to 2025 of patients who “were evaluated for S pneumoniae infection within 30 days of primary influenza, RSV, or COVID-19 infection.” They observed that “the incidence of secondary S pneumoniae infection was highest among patients with influenza (10.03%), followed by those with RSV (9.79%), those with no previous viral infection (4.3%), and those with COVID-19 (2.32%).” The study was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.