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. 2024 Apr;18(4):e13282.
doi: 10.1111/irv.13282.

RSV Disease Burden in Primary Care in Italy: A Multi-Region Pediatric Study, Winter Season 2022-2023

Michela Scarpaci  1 , Sara Bracaloni  1 , Enrica Esposito  1 , Luigi De Angelis  1 , Francesco Baglivo  1 , Beatrice Casini  1 , Donatella Panatto  2 , Matilde Ogliastro  2 , Daniela Loconsole  3 , Maria Chironna  3 , Elena Pariani  4 , Laura Pellegrinelli  4 , Elisabetta Pandolfi  5 , Ileana Croci  5 , Caterina Rizzo  1 ; RSVComNet Italia
Collaborators, Affiliations

RSV Disease Burden in Primary Care in Italy: A Multi-Region Pediatric Study, Winter Season 2022-2023

Michela Scarpaci et al. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most frequent causes of respiratory infections in children under 5 years of age, but its socioeconomic impact and burden in primary care settings is still little studied.

Methods: During the 2022/2023 winter season, 55 pediatricians from five Italian regions participated in our community-based study. They collected a nasal swab for RSV molecular test from 650 patients under the age of 5 with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and performed a baseline questionnaire. The clinical and socioeconomic burden of RSV disease in primary care was evaluated by two follow-up questionnaires completed by the parents of positive children on Days 14 and 30.

Results: RSV laboratory-confirmed cases were 37.8% of the total recruited ARI cases, with RSV subtype B accounting for the majority (65.4%) of RSV-positive swabs. RSV-positive children were younger than RSV-negative ones (median 12.5 vs. 16.5 months). The mean duration of symptoms for all children infected by RSV was 11.47 ± 6.27 days. We did not observe substantial differences in clinical severity between the two RSV subtypes, but RSV-A positive patients required more additional pediatric examinations than RSV-B cases. The socioeconomic impact of RSV infection was considerable, causing 53% of children to be absent from school, 46% of parents to lose working days, and 25% of families to incur extra costs.

Conclusions: Our findings describe a baseline of the RSV disease burden in primary care in Italy before the introduction of upcoming immunization strategies.

Keywords: RSV; acute respiratory infections; primary care; respiratory infection surveillance.

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Conflict of interest statement

LDA received travel reimbursement from Moderna. FB received an educational grant from AstraZeneca and travel reimbursement from Moderna. CR participated in Advisory Board and Expert scientific discussion for Seqirus, MSD, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi, and AstraZeneca. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flowchart: Disease burden protocol used in Italy RSV ComNet III. Children are selected via a network of pediatricians.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Epidemiological trend of RSV in the 2022–2023 winter season among the five participating Italian regions. *Tuscany started systematic enrollment of patients on W03‐2023. Lombardy started on W39‐2022. All the other regions started on W42‐2022.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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