Brown University School of Public Health Researcher Details New Studies and Findings in the Area of Respiratory Syncytial Viruses (Risk Analysis of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Among Infants in the United States by Birth Month): RNA Viruses – Respiratory Syncytial Viruses

2024 MAY 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on respiratory syncytial viruses are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting out of Providence, Rhode Island, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among U.S. infants. A child’s calendar birth month determines their age at first exposure(s) to RSV.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Brown University School of Public Health: “We estimated birth month-specific risk of medically attended (MA) RSV lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) among infants during their first RSV season and first year of life. We analyzed infants born in the USA between July 2016 and February 2020 using three insurance claims databases (two commercial, one Medicaid). We classified infants’ first MA RSV LRTI episode by highest level of care incurred (outpatient, emergency department, or inpatient), employing specific and sensitive diagnostic coding algorithms to define index RSV diagnoses. In our main analysis we focused on infants’ first RSV season. In our secondary analysis we compared the risk of MA RSV LRTI during infants’ first RSV season to that of their first year of life. Infants born from May through September generally had the highest risk of first-season MA RSV LRTI-approximately 6%-10% under the specific RSV index diagnosis definition and 16%-26% under the sensitive. Infants born between October and December had the highest risk of RSV-related hospitalization during their first season. The proportion of MA RSV LRTI events classified as inpatient ranged from 9%-54% (specific) and 5%-33% (sensitive) across birth month and comorbidity group. Through the first year of life, the overall risk of MA RSV LRTI is comparable across birth months within each claims database (6%-11% under the specific definition, 17%-30% under the sensitive), with additional cases progressing to care at outpatient or ED settings.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Our data support recent national recommendations for the use of nirsevimab in the USA. For infants born at the tail end of an RSV season who do not receive nirsevimab, a dose administered prior to the onset of their second RSV season could reduce the incidence of outpatient and ED-related events.”

For more information on this research see: Risk Analysis of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Among Infants in the United States by Birth Month. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, 2024. The publisher for Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society is Oxford University Press (OUP).

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1093/jpids/piae042.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Jason R Gantenberg, Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Additional authors for this research include Robertus van Aalst, Monika Reddy Bhuma, Brendan Limone, David Diakun, David M Smith, Christopher B Nelson, Angela M Bengtson, Sandra S Chaves, William V La Via, Christopher Rizzo, David A Savitz, Andrew R Zullo.

ORCID is an identifier for authors and includes bibliographic information. The following is ORCID information for the authors of this research: Jason R Gantenberg (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8144-4273), Angela M Bengtson (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1305-8132), Andrew R Zullo (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1673-4570).

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)