Key Challenges to Understanding the Burden of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Older Adults in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa: An Expert Perspective

Abstract

Introduction: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common, highly contagious pathogen and a leading cause of serious illness among infants and older adults. While existing scientific evidence has predominantly focused on the epidemiology and disease burden of RSV in infants, data in older adults remain limited in some countries, including those in Southeast Asia (SEA) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Here, we outline the key challenges for understanding the burden of RSV in older adults in SEA and the MENA region and we propose opportunities for improving understanding and eventually reducing the impact of RSV.

Main findings and conclusions: A key challenge identified by the expert group, particularly in older adults, is a lack of awareness (among healthcare professionals, policy makers, and the public) of RSV burden and the associated risks for severe outcomes. This is often confounded by the complexities of underdiagnosis, surveillance limitations, and comorbidities. To address these issues, we suggest medical education initiatives for physicians in SEA and the MENA region to better understand the need to protect older adults from RSV, and encourage more widespread routine testing to better understand the burden of RSV. We also recommend surveillance studies in these regions to provide comprehensive and accurate epidemiological data on RSV in older adults. Finally, in the absence of current surveillance data in these regions, we propose extrapolating existing global data and local pediatric data to inform the likely burden of RSV in older adults. A graphical abstract is available with this article.

Keywords: Africa, Northern; Asia, Southeastern; Consensus; Middle East; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines; Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human.

Fig. 1

Epidemiology and challenges associated with understanding the burden of RSV in older adults in SEA and the MENA region. Data are reported from [2, 3, 12, 17, 25, 26, 30, 33, 37, 39, 40, 53, 62, 69, 70, 74, 81, 82, 86]. CAP community-acquired pneumonia, COVID-19 coronavirus disease 2019, ICU intensive care unit, RSV respiratory syncytial virus, RT-PCR reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction