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. 2023 Nov;17(11):e13211.
doi: 10.1111/irv.13211.

Inpatient burden of respiratory syncytial virus in children ≤2 years of age in Germany: A retrospective analysis of nationwide hospitalization data, 2019-2022

Moritz Wick  1 , Anahita Poshtiban  1 , Rolf Kramer  1 , Mathieu Bangert  1 , Matthias Lange  2 , Martin Wetzke  3   4 , Oliver Damm  1
Affiliations

Inpatient burden of respiratory syncytial virus in children ≤2 years of age in Germany: A retrospective analysis of nationwide hospitalization data, 2019-2022

Moritz Wick et al. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2023 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes respiratory tract disease in seasonal waves, primarily in infants and young children. This study aims to quantify the number of RSV-related hospitalizations in children ≤2 years of age and to determine corresponding resource use and costs in Germany.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed population-wide hospital data from the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) from 2019 to 2022. RSV cases were identified using the RSV-specific 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes J12.1, J20.5, and J21.0. The RSV-associated proportion of all hospitalizations caused by severe acute respiratory infections (SARIs), clinical manifestations, length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, ventilation rates, and hospitalization costs were retrieved.

Results: We identified 98,220 hospitalizations (26,052, 15,407, 31,362, and 25,399 in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively) with a principal RSV diagnosis in children aged ≤2 years in Germany. The majority of RSV hospitalizations (73,178) occurred in infants (<1 year), with annual incidence rates ranging from 14.9 to 28.6 per 1000 population. Fifty-eight percent of all SARI hospitalizations in this age group were attributable to RSV. In children aged ≤2 years, mean LOS was 4.5 days, 6.1% of cases were admitted to ICU, and 5.3% of cases were ventilated. Mean hospitalization costs per case ranged from €3001 to €3961 over the study period.

Conclusions: RSV causes substantial disease burden and is a leading cause of SARI-related hospital admissions of children ≤2 years of age in Germany. Our results confirm the need to explore and evaluate strategies to prevent RSV in infants and young children.

Keywords: Germany; epidemiology; hospitalization; resource use and costs; respiratory syncytial virus; severe acute respiratory infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

Moritz Wick, Anahita Poshtiban, Rolf Kramer, Mathieu Bangert, and Oliver Damm are employees of Sanofi‐Aventis Deutschland GmbH and may hold shares and/or stock options in the company. Martin Wetzke received fees for consulting and/or lecture services from Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, and AstraZeneca. Matthias Lange declares no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) hospitalizations and proportion of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)‐associated hospitalizations in children ≤2 years of age, by age group and year, Germany 2019–2022.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Respiratory syncytial virus‐associated hospitalizations by age group and calendar week, Germany 2019–2022.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Principal diagnoses of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalizations in children ≤2 years of age, by age group and year, Germany 2019–2022.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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