Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Prophylaxis Program: A Tertiary-Care Center...

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prevention program at our institution across three time frames: 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022.

We carried out a descriptive, single-site observational study spanning four years, from June 2019 to June 2022. Our study included patients in our institution's RSV program who met our enrollment criteria. We collected information about the number of children receiving immunoprophylaxis, immunoprophylaxis doses, and RSV risk factors.

The number of patients receiving immunoprophylaxis dropped across the three periods, from 315 patients in the first period (2019-2020) to 176 in the second period (2020-2021), and further decreased to 128 in the third period (2021-2022). Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a 50% reduction in the number of patients receiving immunoprophylaxis. The proportion of RSV-infected patients remained relatively similar in the first and second periods (2.86% and 2.27%, respectively) but increased in the third period (5.47%). In the first period, most patients (60.32%) received seven doses, 11.75% got four to six doses, and 27.95% received three doses or fewer. The second period saw 59.66% of patients receiving four to six doses and 40.34% receiving three doses or fewer. In the third period, a mere 9.38% received four to five doses, while 90.63% got three doses or fewer.

While preventative measures associated with COVID-19 may have helped reduce the number of RSV cases, the pandemic seems to have caused a significant decrease in the number of children receiving immunoprophylaxis and the doses of immunoprophylaxis. More extensive, multicenter research is needed to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on RSV immunoprophylaxis, its activity, and seasonal patterns fully.