Crawford, Nigel W

Alafaci, Annette

Clark, Julia E

Francis, Joshua

Blyth, Christopher C

Pienaar, Catherine

Minney-Smith, Cara

Dougherty, Sonia

Panditha, Anjalee

Francis, Laura

Barr, Ian G

2025-01-18

Primary aim was to review severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) hospitalisations caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children aged < 2 years in paediatric hospitals in Australia. Secondary aims included RSV subtyping, assessing RSV seasonality and contributing to the World Health Organisation's RSV surveillance programme.We prospectively reviewed the medical records of children (< 2 years of age) with a confirmed SARI who were admitted to one of four major Australian paediatric hospitals and had a respiratory sample analysed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). A detailed dataset was completed for RSV positive cases.Between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2022, 2290 RSV (laboratory-confirmed) admissions were identified (53.4% of all SARI admissions). Approximately 50% of all RSV cases were aged 0-6 months. RSV-A predominated in 2021 with peak infections observed in summer while in 2022 RSV-B predominated with peak infections in the more traditional winter months. The median total length of stay (LOS) for RSV positive admissions was 46 h (IQR: 22-82 h). 9% of these children required an ICU admission with a prolonged median LOS 68 h (IQR: 40-112 h). Respiratory support utilisation was consistent over the 2 years. 1.8% required mechanical ventilation; 4.6% continuous positive airway pressure; 23.3% high flow oxygen; and 50.8% low flow oxygen.RSV in children continues to cause a significant disease burden at Australian tertiary paediatric centres. Ongoing hospital surveillance is required to document the impact of RSV preventative therapies that have become available in 2024.

The Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination in the Community (SAEFVIC), Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Department Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination in the Community (SAEFVIC), Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Infection Management Service, Childrens Health Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Global and Tropical Health Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Department of Paediatrics, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

Department of Microbiology, PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

Child and Adolescent Health Service, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Department of Microbiology, PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

Infection Management Service, Childrens Health Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Infection Management Service, Childrens Health Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Department of Paediatrics, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, VIDRL, Doherty Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

J Paediatr Child Health . 2025 Jan 18. doi: 10.1111/jpc.16769. Online ahead of print.

1440-1754

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39825756/?otool=iaurydwlib

https://hdl.handle.net/10137/13924

disease burden

respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

severe acute respiratory infection (SARI)

Study of Children Aged Under 2 Years Admitted With RSV at Four Australian Hospitals [2021-2022].

Journal Article

Publication