Role of age and birth month in infants hospitalized with RSV‐confirmed disease in the Valencia Region, Spain

Abstract

Background RSV is the leading cause of hospital admissions in infants and the principal cause of bronchiolitis in young children. There is a lack of granular data on RSV‐associated hospitalization per season using laboratory confirmed results. Our current study addresses this issue and intends to fill this gap. Methods The study was conducted from 2014 through 2018, in 4 to 10 hospitals in the Valencia Region, Spain. Infants included in this study were admitted in hospital through the Emergency Department with a respiratory complaint and tested by RT‐PCR for RSV in a central laboratory. Results Incidence rates of RSV‐associated hospitalization varied by season and hospital. Overall, the highest incidence rates were observed in 2017/2018. RSV‐associated hospitalization was highest in infants below 3 months of age and in those born before or at the beginning of the RSV season. Almost 54% of total infants hospitalized with laboratory confirmed RSV were found to be born outside the season, from April to October. The RSV positivity rate by ICD‐10 discharged codes varied by season and age with results from 48% to 57% among LRI (J09‐J22). Conclusion The study was instrumental in bringing forth the time unpredictability of RSV epidemics, the critical impact of age, and the comparable distribution of RSV‐associated hospitalization in infants born on either side of the RSV season. These data could help in better characterization of the population that drives the healthcare burden and is crucial for the development of future immunization strategies, especially with upcoming vaccines in against RSV.

Bronchiolitis, Regardless of Its Etiology and Severity, Is Associated With Increased Risk of Asthma: A Population-Based Study

“…Our results suggest that around 28% of children had at least 1 episode of bronchiolitis during the first 2 years of life and 12% of them were hospitalized; the rest (88%) were treated in PC. Consistent with our previous studies, at least 60% of hospitalizations for bronchiolitis were due to RSV [ 3 , 4 ].…”

“…About 30% of the results were obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), 30% by immunochromatography, and about 10% by immunofluorescence; for about 30% of the results, the type of test used was not recorded. However, given that 60% of hospitalizations coded as bronchiolitis were associated with a positive result for RSV and that this coincides with the information recorded in our hospital network of active surveillance for respiratory viruses [ 4 ], in which multiplex PCRs are performed for all respiratory infections, we do not anticipate any misclassification in this regard. We cannot assess whether viral etiology during bronchiolitis is associated with different asthma phenotypes (atopic, nonatopic) as our definition of asthma encompasses all types of asthma.…”

Birth characteristics as predictors of respiratory syncytial virus hospitalisation in newborns to optimise immunisation schedule

“…Children born in March, September and October have a slightly better situation, but they are still at high risk, with a more than doubled risk of RSV hospitalisation. The relevance of birth date has already been investigated in other studies, which confirm our results with similar risks 25,26 . As previously stated, the COVID‐19 pandemic resulted in a fairly close absence of transmission of other respiratory viruses, especially RSV, throughout the world, including Italy, until the 2021–2022 season, when there was an atypical resurgence in both magnitude and timing 10–14 .…”

Epidemiological Characteristics of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Among Hospitalized Children With Acute Respiratory Tract Infections From 2014 to 2022 in a Hospital in Hubei Province, China: Longitudinal Surveillance Study

“…Our study documented an increased RSV detection rate starting in 2018 according to hospital data. In contrast, the RSV infection rate in children with LRTI remained stable, at around 50%, during 2014 to 2018 in the València region in Spain [27,28]. Compared with our results, Germany witnessed similar RSV positivity rates for children aged 0 to 4 years from 2011 to 2021, but the yearly epidemic level was more stable [29].…”