Source: Annual Congress 2002 - Bronchiolitis
Disease area: Paediatric lung diseases, Respiratory infections

Abstract

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the leading viral cause of lower respiratory infection (LRI) in infants worldwide. Because specific epidemiological data on RSV infection in Italy are lacking, we established an italian multicenter epidemiological surveillance program for RSV.
Eight pediatric Italian hospitals with an Emergency Room (ER) and a Central Microbiology Laboratory participated in this study. The study population included children [lte]4 years of age admitted to ER for a respiratory infection between October 2000 and April 2001. Data on medical history and physical examination were recorded for each children. An immunoenzymatic RSV test (TestPack RSV, Abbott) was performed on nasal and pharyngeal samples.
A total of 272 children were tested for RSV infection (51% males), and 85 (31.3%) resulted positive for RSV. The incidence of infection reached its peak on February (p<0.01), with an earlier occurrence and disappearance in the northern as compared to the southern regions. Among the children positive for RSV infection, 55.2% were <1 year of age, 18.3% were between 1 and 2 years, and 25.7% were > 2 years of age. The prevalence of RSV infection was 31.9% in large families (>=2 children/family) and 29.1% in small families.

	Hospitalization rate (%)	Diagnosis of LRI (%)	Mean age (months)	Low birth weight (<1.5 kg, %)
RSV positive (n=85)	56.5	87.5	13.3	6.0
RSV negative (n=185)	33.5	71.1	17.0	0.5
p	<0.01	<0.01	<0.05	<0.01

Our preliminary data confirm that the patterns of RSV infection in Italy are similar to those reported for other countries. RSV is associated with a higher likelihood of LRI and hospitalization than respiratory infections of other etiologies, especially in low birth weight infants.

Rating:

Share or cite this content

Citations should be made in the following way:
R. Merolla, and the [dsquote]Osservatorio VRS[dsquote] Study Group (Campoverde, Italy). Epidemiological multicentre study on the incidence of RSV respiratory infections in early childhood in Italy. Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 239

Member's Comments

No comment yet.

Related content which might interest you: Prospective epidemiologic study on respiratory diseases in children and immunisation against measles Source: Eur Respir J 2003; 22: Suppl. 45, 297s Year: 2003 Susceptibility to respiratory infections in schoolchildren after measles. Epidemiological study in Krakow Source: Eur Respir J 2003; 22: Suppl. 45, 297s Year: 2003 Epidemiology of severe respiratory syncytial virus infection in Ethiopian infants : A prospective study Source: Virtual Congress 2020 – Worldwide respiratory disease across the full spectrum Year: 2020 The point prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus in hospital and community-based studies in children from Northern Australia: studies in a ‘high-risk’ population Source: International Congress 2019 – Aetiology and management of childhood respiratory infections, primary ciliary dyskinesia and asthma Year: 2019 In-hospital and midterm post-discharge complications of adults hospitalised with respiratory syncytial virus infection in France, 2017–2019: an observational study Source: Eur Respir J, 59 (3) 2100651; 10.1183/13993003.00651-2021 Year: 2022 Viral epidemiology and severity of respiratory infections in infants in 2009-2010 winter: A prospective study in Basse-Normandie Source: Annual Congress 2011 - Innate and exogenous factors in childhood respiratory infection Year: 2011 Burden of respiratory syncytial virus infection in community-dwelling older adults in Europe (RESCEU): an international prospective cohort study Source: Eur Respir J, 57 (4) 2002688; 10.1183/13993003.02688-2020 Year: 2021 Prospective study of respiratory morbidity following RSV infection in infants born prematurely Source: Annual Congress 2004 - Premature infants, respiratory morbidity and lung pathology in children Year: 2004 GRACE-01 Genomics to combat resistance against antibiotics in community-acquired LRTI in Europe – a multicentre, observational cohort study of cough/LRTI in primary care Source: Annual Congress 2007 - Clinical trial: antibiotic use in the community Year: 2007 Impact of bacteremia in a cohort of predominantly elderly patients with pneumococcal pneumonia. Epidemiologic and case-control study Source: Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 354s Year: 2002 Prospective study on the contribution of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTI) in young hospitalised children Source: Eur Respir J 2004; 24: Suppl. 48, 622s Year: 2004 Mortality among patients admitted for viral lower respiratory tract infections – a seasonal cohort study Source: International Congress 2019 – Clinical challenges in respiratory infection Year: 2019 Characterisation of children hospitalised with pneumonia in central Vietnam: A prospective study Source: International Congress 2019 – Aetiology and management of childhood respiratory infections, primary ciliary dyskinesia and asthma Year: 2019 Characterisation of children hospitalised with pneumonia in central Vietnam: a prospective study Source: Eur Respir J, 54 (1) 1802256; 10.1183/13993003.02256-2018 Year: 2019 Acute lower respiratory tract infections in children: a prospective etiologyc study Source: Annual Congress 2008 - Miscellaneous respiratory infections Year: 2008 Epidemiologic features of community acquired pneumonia caused by mixed infections (CAP-mx) in a prospective survey Source: Eur Respir J 2005; 26: Suppl. 49, 256s Year: 2005 Efficacy of immunotherapy with ribomunyl in children with recurrent respiratory infections: results of 3-year prospective study Source: Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 338s Year: 2002 A multi-centric retrospective study of respiratory tract metapneumovirus infection in immunocompromised patients. Source: Virtual Congress 2020 – Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era Year: 2020 Predictors of pneumonia in lower respiratory tract infections: 3C prospective cough complication cohort study Source: Eur Respir J, 50 (5) 1700434; 10.1183/13993003.00434-2017 Year: 2017 Etiology of community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization in Chile: a prospective study Source: Eur Respir J 2005; 26: Suppl. 49, 255s Year: 2005