[Epidemiological characteristics of human respiratory syncytial virus in Hubei Province from 2016 to 2023]

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) in patients with acute respiratory infection (ARIs) in sentinel hospitals of the Hubei influenza surveillance network from 2016 to 2023. Methods: ARIs samples [including influenza-like cases (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI)] were collected from influenza surveillance sentinel hospitals in Hubei Province from 2016 to 2023, and case information was collected. HRSV virus nucleic acid typing was performed by fluorescence quantitative PCR method, and the data were collated, plotted and analyzed. Results: From 2016 to 2023, 12 779 cases of ILI and 9 166 cases of SARI were collected. The positive rate of HRSV was the highest in<5 years of age group [15.77% (168/1 065)], among which the positive rate was the highest in 2 to 5 years of age group of ILI cases [13.60% (31/228)], and the positive rate was the highest in 0 to 2 years of age group of SARI cases [25.97% (60/231)] (all P values<0.001). The positive rate of HRSV in SARI cases was 2.31%-25.97%, higher than that in ILI cases (0-13.60%) (P=0.016). HRSV was prevalent in autumn and winter from 2016 to 2020 and in spring in 2023. Alternating epidemics of HRSV virus type A and B in Hubei Province from 2016 to 2023 (dominant epidemics of type B in 2016 and 2020; dominant epidemics of type A in 2017-2019 and 2023). Conclusion: SARI and ILI patients under five years old are the main infection groups of HRSV. The seasonal prevalence characteristics of HRSV in Hubei Province from 2016 to 2023 shift from autumn and winter to spring.