Characteristics of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections in Children in the Post-COVID Seasons: A Northern Italy Hospital Experience.

Publisher: MDPI Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 101509722 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1999-4915 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19994915 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Viruses Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Basel, Switzerland : MDPI

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections*/epidemiology ; COVID-19*/epidemiology ; Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human*; Infant ; Humans ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Seasons ; Pandemics ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Hospitals ; Italy/epidemiology

Background: Public health measures for COVID-19 mitigation influenced the circulation of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) during the 2020-2021 winter season. In the following autumn, an unprecedented resurgence of RSV occurred. Our study monitored RSV pediatric infections one and two years after the relaxation of containment measures for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: We analyzed diagnostic molecular data for SARS-CoV-2, flu, and RSV infections and clinical data from children with respiratory symptoms referring to our hospital during the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons.
Results: In the 2021-2022 season, the number of RSV-affected children was very high, especially for babies <1 year. The outbreak appeared in a shorter interval of time, with a high clinical severity. In the 2022-23 season, a reduced number of infected pediatric patients were detected, with a similar hospitalization rate (46% vs. 40%), and RSV accounted for 12% of the infections. Coinfections were observed in age <2 years. In RSV patients, symptoms were similar across the two seasons.
Conclusions: The clinical presentation of RSV in the two post-COVID seasons suggests that the pathophysiology of the virus did not change across these two years. Further studies are needed to continuously monitor RSV to support an effective prevention strategy.

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Fondi Ricerca Corrente, Project L1P6" Italian Ministry of Health; PE00000007, INF-ACT EU funding within the MUR PNRR Extended Partnership initiative on Emerging Infectious Dis-eases

Keywords: acute respiratory infection; bronchiolitis; epidemiology; hypertransaminasemia; respiratory syncytial virus; surveillance

Date Created: 20240123 Date Completed: 20240124 Latest Revision: 20241023

20250114

PMC10820224

10.3390/v16010126

38257826