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
. 2023 Dec 13;15(12):2417.
doi: 10.3390/v15122417.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Reinfections in Children in Western Australia

David A Foley  1   2   3 , Cara A Minney-Smith  1 , Wei Hao Lee  3   4 , Daniel B Oakes  2 , Briony Hazelton  1   5 , Timothy J Ford  3   5 , Ushma Wadia  2   5   6 , Chisha Sikazwe  1   7 , Hannah C Moore  2   8 , Mark P Nicol  2   9 , Avram Levy  1   7 , Christopher C Blyth  1   2   3   5
Affiliations

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Reinfections in Children in Western Australia

David A Foley et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) reinfection in children is poorly understood. We examined the incidence, characteristics, and outcomes of hospital-attended RSV reinfections in children <16 years in Western Australia between 2012 and 2022. Individuals with repeat RSV detections ≥56 days apart were identified using laboratory data. The incidence of reinfection in the first five years of life was estimated using the total birth population from 2012 to 2017. Clinical data on a subset of reinfection episodes were obtained from two metropolitan pediatric centers. A total of 466 children with hospital-attended reinfections were identified. The median interval between RSV detections was 460 days (interquartile range: 324, 812), with a reinfection rate of 95 per 100,000 individuals (95% confidence interval: 82, 109). Reinfection was most common in children who experienced their first RSV detection <6 months of age. Predisposing factors were identified in 56% of children; children with predisposing factors were older at first and second detections, were more likely to be admitted, and had a longer length of stay. This study highlights the significant burden of hospital-attended RSV reinfections in children with and without predisposing factors. Expanded surveillance with in-depth clinical data is required to further characterize the impact of RSV reinfection.

Keywords: children; immunity; reinfection; respiratory syncytial virus; respiratory virus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of children tested for RSV between 2012 and 2022 with RSV detection ≥56 days apart and subset with available clinical data.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(Panel A) The number of first RSV detections per year of children with hospital-attended RSV reinfection. (Panel B) The number of second RSV detections per year of children with hospital-attended RSV reinfection. (Panel C) Total RSV detections and tests per year of all children <16 years in Western Australia. RSV, respiratory syncytial virus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Sankey diagram of paired clinical phenotype at first and second detections in children with and without identified predisposing factors and the number and percentage of each phenotype admitted. ALRI, acute lower respiratory infection; URTI, upper respiratory tract infection; VIW, viral induced wheeze. “Other” includes febrile seizure, fever in at-risk individuals, and detections without clinical phenotype data.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Saravanos G.L., Sheel M., Homaira N., Dey A., Brown E., Wang H., Macartney K., Wood N.J. Respiratory syncytial virus-associated hospitalisations in Australia, 2006–2015. Med. J. Aust. 2019;210:447–453. doi: 10.5694/mja2.50159. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li Y., Wang X., Blau D.M., Caballero M.T., Feikin D.R., Gill C.J., Madhi S.A., Omer S.B., Simões E.A., Campbell H. 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;399:2047–2064. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00478-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Na’amnih W., Kassem E., Tannous S., Kagan V., Jbali A., Hanukayev E., Freimann S., Obolski U., Muhsen K. Incidence and risk factors of hospitalisations for respiratory syncytial virus among children aged less than 2 years. Epidemiol. Infect. 2022;150:e45. doi: 10.1017/S0950268822000152. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Noble M., Khan R.A., Walker B., Bennett E., Gent N. Respiratory syncytial virus-associated hospitalisation in children aged ≤5 years: A scoping review of literature from 2009 to 2021. ERJ Open Res. 2022;8:00593–02021. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00593-2021. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Russell C.D., Unger S.A., Walton M., Schwarze J. The Human Immune Response to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2017;30:481–502. doi: 10.1128/CMR.00090-16. - DOI - PMC - PubMed