Incidence and seasonality of respiratory syncytial virus hospitalisations in young children in Denmark, 2010 to 2015

Martin T. Jepsen, Ramona Trebbien, Hanne Dorthe Emborg, Tyra G. Krause, Kristian Schønning, Marianne Voldstedlund, Jens Nielsen, Thea Kølsen Fischer*

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

For future decisions on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-vaccination strategies and implementation into national immunisation-programmes, we used national registry data (hospitalisation, microbiology and vital statistics) to determine the age-specific incidence and direct medical costs of annual RSV-associated admissions in children < 5 years-old for the period of 2010–2015. We identified ca 2,500 RSV-associated hospitalisations annually amounting to total direct medi-cal-costs of ca EUR 4.1 million per year. The incidence of RSV-associated hospitalisations peaked in infants 1–2 months of age followed by infants 2–3 months of age, and infants < 1 month of age, respectively. Infant boys were at higher risk of severe RSV infection as compared to infant girls: male-to-female ratio peaked with 1.4 at four months of age and gradually levelled out with increasing age to 1.0 at 4 years of age. Five RSV-associated deaths were identified. Our findings demonstrate that in a western country as Denmark, RSV constitutes a considerable burden on childhood health. Furthermore, the best approach to reduce the high incidence of RSV-associated hospitalisations in young infants < 3 months of age may be maternal vaccination due to general challenges in achieving sufficient and protective immune responses in young infants.

Original languageEnglish
Article number17-00163
JournalEurosurveillance
Volume23
Issue number3
Number of pages8
ISSN1025-496X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

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