Respiratory syncytial virus epidemiology and clinical severity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Canada: a retrospective observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has perturbed the seasonality of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections. However, we lack data on how this impacted the severity of paediatric RSV cases. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical severity of RSV cases before, during and after pandemic measures in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Methods

Retrospective study of RSV cases from September 1st, 2017 to May 15th, 2023, with a review of RSV outcomes in children below 18 years old at BC's paediatric hospital. Temporal changes in RSV cases and hospitalisations were quantified using interrupted time series.

Findings

BC experienced only 11 RSV cases (from 95,266 tests) between September 2020 and August 2021. This was followed by a resurgence of 9,529 RSV cases (

SUBMITTER: Vineta Paramo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10495630 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature