Comparative analysis of RSV-related hospitalisations in children and adults over a 7 year-period before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Kiefer, Alexander and Pemmerl, Sylvia and Kabesch, Michael and Ambrosch, Andreas (2023) Comparative analysis of RSV-related hospitalisations in children and adults over a 7 year-period before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL VIROLOGY, 166: 105530. ISSN 1386-6532, 1873-5967

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Abstract

Background: RSV is an important cause for respiratory illness in children and the elderly. We analysed RSV seasons since 2016 in both age groups for differences, similarities and timely associations before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: We studied epidemiological and clinical features of seven consecutive RSV seasons since 2016 retro-spectively in children and adults who were systematically monitored for RSV infections by PCR when hospi-talized in Regensburg, Germany.Results: Data from 1903 RSV positive, hospitalised patients were analysed (1446 children, 457 adults). We observed a complete absence of RSV associated hospitalizations in season 2020/2021. While in the season of 2021/2022, RSV associated hospitalizations in children returned to considerable numbers earlier than expected, hospitalizations in the elderly were still mitigated during that season in temporal association with the contin-uation of NPI measures for COVID-19 in the elderly until summer of 2022. Overall, children were hospitalized more often for RSV, while the elderly showed more severe outcomes. RSV hospitalisations continuously increase in both age groups, following a bi-annual pattern of severe and less severe seasons, which was not altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: We demonstrate the relation between RSV waves in children and the elderly. NPI measures may protect the elderly from RSV infections and epidemiological data could be used to predict RSV waves early enough to prepare countermeasures.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS; UNITED-STATES; INFLUENZA; INFECTION; PREVENTION; MORTALITY; BURDEN; RSV; Respiratory infectious diseases; Children; Elderly
Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medical sciences Medicine
Divisions: Medicine > Lehrstuhl für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin
Depositing User: Dr. Gernot Deinzer
Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2024 10:22
Last Modified: 30 Jan 2024 10:22
URI: https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/59437

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