{
  "abstract": "Purpose: Acute respiratory infections (ARI) impose a significant burden on healthcare systems and society. This study aimed to investigate the circulation of respiratory viruses in community-dwelling older adults in Germany.\n\nMethods: Participants aged ≥ 50 years in Germany performed multi-pathogen rapid antigen self-tests (MAK5) detecting adenovirus (AdV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), influenza A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) on June 1 and December 15, 2024. Participants reported test results, ARI symptoms and duration, medical consultations, work absenteeism, comorbidities, vaccination history, and prior infections.\n\nResults: 2,654 participants enrolled in the point prevalence assessment on June 1, 2024 and 2,385 on December 15, 2024. Most tests were negative (n = 4,807; 93.9%), with an overall detection rate of 5.7%. In June, 153 pathogens were detected, compared to 138 in December. AdV was the most frequently detected pathogen in both June (59/153; 38.6%) and December (44/138; 31.9%), followed by SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A. Among participants with a positive test, at least one ARI symptom was reported by 47.7% in June and 58.7% in December. SARS-CoV-2 was associated with the highest clinical burden, resulting in healthcare utilization in 10.0% and 19.4% of cases and work absenteeism in 10.0% and 13.9% of cases in June and December, respectively.\n\nConclusion: Point prevalence testing revealed substantial AdV circulation, underrepresented in routine surveillance. Its frequent co-detection with other viruses suggests a role as a co-infecting agent. Community-based screening can help identify asymptomatic reservoirs and underreported viral circulation, linking viral detection to clinical and economic impact.\n\nSupplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-026-02917-5.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Translational Research, Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, Herderstr. 52, 50931 Cologne, Germany",
    "Faculty of Medicine, Department I of Internal Medicine, Excellence Center for Medical Mycology (ECMM), University of Cologne, and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany",
    "German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Cologne, Germany",
    "Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, University Hospital Cologne, Clinical Trials Centre Cologne (ZKS Köln), Cologne, Germany"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 13,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Miranda Anggitakirana",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-3783-3419"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Julia A. Nacov",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5327-2937"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jon Salmanton-García",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6766-8297"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Julia Jakobs",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4669-690X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Grimm",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7680-0344"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Janina Leckler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Katharina Köbe"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Louise M. Cremer",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-1425-7352"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Pauline Wipfler",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0400-0748"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jannik Stemler",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9152-2469"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Heinz-Josef Schmitt",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0378-5697"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ullrich Bethe",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9979-1671"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Oliver A. Cornely",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9599-3137"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a8q08t4y4vc4h.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1007/s15010-026-02917-5",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13727950/",
  "id": "a8q08t4y4vc4h",
  "issns": [
    "0300-8126",
    "1439-0973"
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  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-026-02917-5",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
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      "heading",
      "Research"
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      "2713|Respiratory viral infections research"
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  "openalex": "W7204181542",
  "pdf_url": "https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s15010-026-02917-5.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13727950",
  "pmid": "42640406",
  "published": "2026-08-25",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a8q08t4y4vc4h.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T12:23:44Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13727950",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-026-02917-5"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2713|Respiratory viral infections research",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
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  ],
  "title": "Point prevalence assessments of five respiratory viruses in adults ≥ 50 years of age in Germany by multi-pathogen rapid antigen testing on June 1, 2024, and December 15, 2024",
  "title_text": "Point prevalence assessments of five respiratory viruses in adults ≥ 50 years of age in Germany by multi-pathogen rapid antigen testing on June 1, 2024, and December 15, 2024",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:21:02Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a8q08t4y4vc4h",
  "venue": "Infection",
  "versions": []
}