Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Associated Hospital Admissions in Children Younger Than 5 Years in 7 European Countries...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Infectious Diseases
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a primary cause of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in young children.
• Disease registries offer valuable insights into RSV epidemiology and disease burden.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze and compare RSV-associated hospital admission rates, age distribution, seasonality, and time trends in children under 5 years across seven European countries.
• To evaluate the utility of routinely collected hospital data for understanding RSV burden.

Main Methods:

• Utilized linked, routinely collected hospital data for children under 5 years old from seven European nations.
• Compared RSV-associated admission rates, age demographics, seasonality, and temporal trends between participating countries.

Main Results:

• RSV hospital admissions showed similar age distributions across countries, with the highest burden in children under 1 year, peaking at 1 month.
• Annual rates of RTI admissions ranged from 41.3-112.0 per 1000 for children under 1 year and 8.6-22.3 per 1000 for children aged 1-4 years.
• RSV accounted for 57%-72% of RTI admissions with a specified pathogen in children under 5, and 62%-87% in infants under 1 year.

Conclusions:

• Linked routinely collected data effectively demonstrates the benefits and limitations in studying RSV epidemiology and burden.
• Future research will employ time-series modeling with this data to estimate RSV burden, informing immunization strategies and vaccine impact monitoring.