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Journal Article Ahead of print 128 citations

PubMed: 34255934 DOI: 10.1111/irv.12885

Defining the seasonality of respiratory syncytial virus around the world: National and subnational surveillance data from 12 countries.

Influenza Other Respir Viruses

Authors: Lisa Staadegaard, Saverio Caini, Sonam Wangchuk, Binay Thapa, Walquiria Aparecida Ferreira de Almeida, Felipe Cotrim de Carvalho, Rodrigo A Fasce, Patricia Bustos, Jan Kyncl, Ludmila Novakova, Alfredo Bruno Caicedo, Domenica Joseth de Mora Coloma, Adam Meijer, Mariëtte Hooiveld, Q Sue Huang, Tim Wood, Raquel Guiomar, Ana Paula Rodrigues, Vernon Jian Ming Lee, Li Wei Ang, Cheryl Cohen, Jocelyn Moyes, Amparo Larrauri, Concepción Delgado-Sanz, Clarisse Demont, Mathieu Bangert, Michel Dückers, Jojanneke van Summeren, John Paget

Affiliations

  • Nivel (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
  • Royal Centre for Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Thimphu, Bhutan.
  • Department of Immunization and Communicable Diseases, Ministry of Health, Brasilia, Brazil.
  • Subdepartamento Enfermedades Virales, Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
  • Sección Virus Respiratorios, Subdepartamento Enfermedades Virales, Instituto de Salud Publica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
  • Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
  • Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
  • National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
  • Universidad Agraria del Ecuador, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
  • Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública (INSPI), Centro de Referencia Nacional de Influenza y otros Virus Respiratorios, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
  • National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
  • Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited (ESR), National Centre for Biosecurity and Infectious Disease (NCBID), Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
  • Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Ministry of Health, Singapore.
  • Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Singapore.
  • National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore.
  • Centre for Respiratory Disease and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa.
  • School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
  • National Centre of Epidemiology, CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
  • Sanofi Pasteur, Lyon, France.

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections are one of the leading causes of lower respiratory tract infections and have a major burden on society. For prevention and control to be deployed effectively, an improved understanding of the seasonality of RSV is necessary.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this study was to contribute to a better understanding of RSV seasonality by examining the GERi multi-country surveillance dataset.

METHODS

RSV seasons were included in the analysis if they contained ≥100 cases. Seasonality was determined using the "average annual percentage" method. Analyses were performed at a subnational level for the United States and Brazil.

RESULTS

We included 601 425 RSV cases from 12 countries. Most temperate countries experienced RSV epidemics in the winter, with a median duration of 10-21 weeks. Not all epidemics fit this pattern in a consistent manner, with some occurring later or in an irregular manner. More variation in timing was observed in (sub)tropical countries, and we found substantial differences in seasonality at a subnational level. No association was found between the timing of the epidemic and the dominant RSV subtype.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that geographical location or climatic characteristics cannot be used as a definitive predictor for the timing of RSV epidemics and highlight the need for (sub)national data collection and analysis.

MeSH

Respiratory Syncytial Viruses, Epidemiology, Influenza, Human, Viruses, Epidemics, Infections

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