Association between climatic factors and respiratory syncytial virus detection rates in Cheonan, Korea

The use of big data may facilitate the recognition and interpretation of causal relationships between disease occurrence and climatic variables. This study examined the effects of various climatic variables on the seasonal epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in the temperate climate of Korea. Trends in RSV detection were analyzed using 9010 samples tested between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2018, at Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, Korea. Seasonal patterns in RSV detection frequency were compared with local climatic variables during the same period. RSV detection rate of 12.8% (n = 1150/9010) was observed, which was higher for RSV-A (7.1%) than RSV-B (5.8%) and RSV-A and RSV-B alternated each year. Children < 1 year exhibited high infection rates with RSV-A (68.5%) and RSV-B (58.7%). RSV-A and RSV-B infection rates in children under 9 years old were 96.2% and 92.1%, respectively. RSV had a significant relationship with several climatic factors. Air temperature, wind chill temperature, and particulate matter concentration were lower on days with a higher frequency of RSV detection. In contrast, atmospheric pressure was higher on days with lower RSV detection. Although the detection rates for RSV-A and RSV-B increased on days with lower air temperatures, those for RSV-B also increased on days with lower wind chill temperatures. Our findings suggest that climatic variables affect the RSV detection rate among children under 10 years of age. The present data may help predict the time when prevention strategies may be the most effective.