National Surveillance For Respiratory Syncytial Virus, United States, 1985-1990

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes pneumonia and bronchiolitis in infants and young children and serious disease in the elderly and persons with compromised immune systems. To determine the temporal and geographic patterns of RSV outbreaks in the United States, monthly reports from 74 laboratories were analyzed for July 1985 through June 1990. RSV outbreaks were identified in 197 (93%) of the 211 laboratory years analyzed, with widespread activity beginning each fall, peaking in winter, and returning to baseline in April or May. Each year, the timing of outbreaks did not differ significantly between most regions; the few differences were small, and no region consistently had early or late outbreaks. These findings are consistent with RSV transmission within communities rather than between communities or regions. Health care personnel should consider the possibility of RSV infection in their treatment and prevention efforts from November through April each year in the United States.

The natural history of respiratory syncytial virus infection in cancer and transplant patients: implications for management

“…[10][11][12][13] Recommendations for the management of RSV infections in cancer patients include strict infection control measures, delay in the therapy for the underlying disease, and treatment with aerosolized ribavirin plus high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]14 These strategies are associated with huge costs, toxicity, disruption of patient care activities, and delay in treating the underlying cancer.…”

Neutrophil survival is prolonged in the airways of healthy infants and infants with RSV bronchiolitis

“…Several prospective studies have also indicated that lower respiratory tract RSV infections in hospitalised [8] and nonhospitalised [9] infants, result in an excess of recurrent lower respiratory tract symptoms in subsequent years. These symptoms decline progressively over the first decade of life but the cause for this excess morbidity remains unclear [10].There has been much speculation regarding the nature of the host/virus interaction [3,11] and more than 30 yrs ago it was proposed that RSV bronchiolitis is a consequence of a specific immunopathology.Despite much research to demonstrate this, no distinct immunopathological process has been identified. The current authors have shown that neutrophils are the predominant inflammatory cell in the upper and lower airway in RSV infections in infants, accounting for y80% of cells recovered from the tracts [12].…”

“…Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is responsible for annual epidemics of respiratory disease affecting the whole population [1][2][3] and particularly infants of whom the majority are infected during their first winter [1,4,5]. Of these, 20-30% develop lower respiratory tract symptoms and 0.5-2% are hospitalised with RSV bronchiolitis [1,2,4,5].…”

“…There has been much speculation regarding the nature of the host/virus interaction [3,11] and more than 30 yrs ago it was proposed that RSV bronchiolitis is a consequence of a specific immunopathology.…”

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Nonstructural (NS) Proteins as Host Range Determinants: a Chimeric Bovine RSV with NS Genes from Human RSV Is Attenuated in Interferon-Competent Bovine Cells

“…Worldwide, HRSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis-associated hospitalizations in infants (18,25). HRSV is also a significant cause of excess morbidity and mortality in adult patients with compromised immune status and chronic inflammatory lung disease and in the elderly (10,12,13,37).…”