Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Book

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Children

Sastry Chamarthi, Venkata Sushma Chamarthi  1 , Sharon F. Daley  2
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
Affiliations
Free Books & Documents
Book

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Children

Sastry Chamarthi et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of acute respiratory infection requiring hospitalization in children worldwide. RSV most commonly presents as an upper respiratory tract infection but frequently progresses to bronchiolitis in young infants—a lower respiratory tract illness characterized by small airway obstruction that may lead to respiratory failure, apnea, or death. In the United States, RSV is responsible for over 58,000 hospitalizations annually in children younger than 5 years.

Recent advances have revolutionized RSV prevention through the development of maternal vaccines and long-acting monoclonal antibodies. The approval of maternal RSV vaccination with the bivalent prefusion F vaccine and use of monoclonal antibodies, including nirsevimab and clesrovimab, represents a paradigm shift in protecting vulnerable infants. The mainstay of RSV treatment remains supportive care, as currently no safe and effective antiviral therapy has been developed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Sastry Chamarthi declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Venkata Sushma Chamarthi declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Sharon Daley declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

    1. Li Y, Wang X, Blau DM, Caballero MT, Feikin DR, Gill CJ, Madhi SA, Omer SB, Simões EAF, Campbell H, Pariente AB, Bardach D, Bassat Q, Casalegno JS, Chakhunashvili G, Crawford N, Danilenko D, Do LAH, Echavarria M, Gentile A, Gordon A, Heikkinen T, Huang QS, Jullien S, Krishnan A, Lopez EL, Markić J, Mira-Iglesias A, Moore HC, Moyes J, Mwananyanda L, Nokes DJ, Noordeen F, Obodai E, Palani N, Romero C, Salimi V, Satav A, Seo E, Shchomak Z, Singleton R, Stolyarov K, Stoszek SK, von Gottberg A, Wurzel D, Yoshida LM, Yung CF, Zar HJ, Respiratory Virus Global Epidemiology Network. Nair H, RESCEU investigators Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in children younger than 5 years in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet. 2022 May 28;399(10340):2047-2064. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hall CB, Weinberg GA, Iwane MK, Blumkin AK, Edwards KM, Staat MA, Auinger P, Griffin MR, Poehling KA, Erdman D, Grijalva CG, Zhu Y, Szilagyi P. The burden of respiratory syncytial virus infection in young children. N Engl J Med. 2009 Feb 05;360(6):588-98. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kampmann B, Madhi SA, Munjal I, Simões EAF, Pahud BA, Llapur C, Baker J, Pérez Marc G, Radley D, Shittu E, Glanternik J, Snaggs H, Baber J, Zachariah P, Barnabas SL, Fausett M, Adam T, Perreras N, Van Houten MA, Kantele A, Huang LM, Bont LJ, Otsuki T, Vargas SL, Gullam J, Tapiero B, Stein RT, Polack FP, Zar HJ, Staerke NB, Duron Padilla M, Richmond PC, Koury K, Schneider K, Kalinina EV, Cooper D, Jansen KU, Anderson AS, Swanson KA, Gruber WC, Gurtman A, MATISSE Study Group Bivalent Prefusion F Vaccine in Pregnancy to Prevent RSV Illness in Infants. N Engl J Med. 2023 Apr 20;388(16):1451-1464. - PubMed
    1. Jones JM, Fleming-Dutra KE, Prill MM, Roper LE, Brooks O, Sánchez PJ, Kotton CN, Mahon BE, Meyer S, Long SS, McMorrow ML. Use of Nirsevimab for the Prevention of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease Among Infants and Young Children: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices - United States, 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2023 Aug 25;72(34):920-925. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kaler J, Hussain A, Patel K, Hernandez T, Ray S. Respiratory Syncytial Virus: A Comprehensive Review of Transmission, Pathophysiology, and Manifestation. Cureus. 2023 Mar;15(3):e36342. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources