Environmental drivers of the spatiotemporal dynamics of respiratory syncytial virus in the United States.

ABSTRACT: Epidemics of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are known to occur in wintertime in temperate countries including the United States, but there is a limited understanding of the importance of climatic drivers in determining the seasonality of RSV. In the United States, RSV activity is highly spatially structured, with seasonal peaks beginning in Florida in November through December and ending in the upper Midwest in February-March, and prolonged disease activity in the southeastern US. Using data on both age-specific hospitalizations and laboratory reports of RSV in the US, and employing a combination of statistical and mechanistic epidemic modeling, we examined the association between environmental variables and state-specific measures of RSV seasonality. Temperature, vapor pressure, precip

SUBMITTER: Pitzer VE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4287610 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature