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Meta-Analysis
. 2019 Dec;9(2):020431.
doi: 10.7189/jogh.09.020431.

Respiratory syncytial virus in the Western Pacific Region: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Krisna N A Pangesti  1   2   3 , Moataz Abd El Ghany  2   4   5 , Alison M Kesson  4   6   7 , Grant A Hill-Cawthorne  1   4
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Respiratory syncytial virus in the Western Pacific Region: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Krisna N A Pangesti et al. J Glob Health. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of viral pneumonia and bronchiolitis, especially in younger children. The burden of RSV infection in adults, particularly in the older age group, is increasingly recognised. However, RSV disease burden and molecular epidemiology in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region (WPR) has not been reviewed systematically. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the epidemiological aspects of RSV (incidence, prevalence, seasonality and hospitalisation status) and the associated molecular data in the WPRO countries.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted in international literature databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and Web of Science) to identify RSV-related publications from January 2000 to October 2017 in the WPR countries.

Results: A total of 196 studies from 15 WPR countries were included. The positivity rate for RSV among respiratory tract infection patients was 16.73% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 15.12%-18.4%). The RSV-positive cases were mostly found in hospitalised compared with outpatients (18.28% vs 11.54%, P < 0.001), and children compared with adults (20.72% vs 1.87%, P < 0.001). The seasonality of RSV in the WPR countries follows the latitude, with the peak of RSV season occurring in the winter in temperate countries, and during the rainy season in tropical countries. The molecular epidemiology pattern of RSV in WPR countries was similar to the global pattern, with NA1 (RSV A) and BA (RSV B) being the predominant genotypes.

Conclusions: The available data on RSV are limited in several countries within the WPR, with most data focusing on children and hospitalised patients. Further studies and surveillance, incorporating laboratory testing, are needed to determine the burden of RSV infection in the WPR countries.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interest: All authors have completed the Unified Competing Interest form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf (available on request from the corresponding author) and declare no conflicts interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of studies selection. The criteria for identification of irrelevant studies adapted from previous publication [17]): (1) did not discuss respiratory tract infections or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), (2) RSV mentioned only as background to discussion.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) studies in 15 of the 37 Western Pacific Region countries/areas. The WPR countries/areas are in green. Map was created with mapchart.net. (Available from: https://mapchart.net/).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) genotypes in the Western Pacific Region countries.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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