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. 2024 Sep 20;11(10):ofae513.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofae513. eCollection 2024 Oct.

Clinical Manifestations and Outcomes in Adults Hospitalized With Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Influenza a/B: A Multicenter Observational Cohort Study

Clara Lundetoft Clausen  1 , Amanda Marie Egeskov-Cavling  2 , Noor Hayder  1   3 , Adin Sejdic  3 , Casper Roed  3   4 , Jon Gitz Holler  3 , Lene Nielsen  5 , Mads Frederik Eiberg  3 , Omid Rezahosseini  3 , Christian Østergaard  6 , Zitta Barrella Harboe  3   4 , Thea K Fischer  2   7 , Thomas Benfield  1 , Birgitte Lindegaard  3   4
Affiliations

Clinical Manifestations and Outcomes in Adults Hospitalized With Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Influenza a/B: A Multicenter Observational Cohort Study

Clara Lundetoft Clausen et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza cause significant health challenges, particularly for individuals with comorbid conditions and older adults. However, information on the clinical manifestations and outcomes of adults hospitalized with RSV in Europe remains limited.

Methods: This multicenter observational cohort study of adults hospitalized with RSV or influenza A or B from March 2016 to April 2020 investigated the clinical manifestations, mortality risk factors, and association with 90-day mortality rates by logistic regression analysis after adjustment for covariates.

Results: Of 988 patients hospitalized with either virus, 353 had RSV, 347 had influenza A, and 288 had influenza B infection. Patients with RSV, compared with those with influenza A or B, were more likely to have comorbid conditions (83% for RSV vs 72% for influenza A [P = .03] and 74% for influenza B [P = .001]) or pneumonia (41% vs 29% [P = .03] and 24% [P < .001], respectively). After adjustment for covariates, RSV infection was associated with an increased all-cause mortality rate within 90 days compared with influenza B (odds ratio, 2.16 [95% confidence interval, 1.20-3.87]; P = .01) but not influenza A (1.38 [.84-2.29]; P = .21). Increasing age and present pneumonia were identified as independent mortality risk factors in patients with RSV.

Conclusions: Older adults hospitalized with RSV infections are at a higher risk of dying within 90 days of hospitalization than patients admitted with influenza B but at a similar risk as those admitted with influenza A, emphasizing the detrimental effects and severity of older patients being infected with RSV. Our findings underscore the need for strategic testing and vaccination approaches to mitigate the impact of RSV among older adults.

Keywords: adults; clinical epidemiology; mortality; respiratory infections; respiratory syncytial virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. O. R. reports a grant from the Research Foundation of Rigshospitalet and the A. P. Moller Foundation, unrelated to the current work. Z. B. H. reports grants from Independent Research Fund Denmark (grant 0134-00257B), the Lundbeck Foundation (grant R349-2020-835), and the Danish Cancer Society (grant KBVU-MS R327-A19137) and is a member of the Danish Vaccination Council. T. B. reports grants from Novo Nordisk Foundation, Lundbeck Foundation, Simonsen Foundation, GSK, Pfizer, Gilead, Kai Hansen Foundation, and Erik and Susanna Olesen's Charitable Fund and personal fees from GSK, Pfizer, Bavarian Nordic, Boehringer Ingelheim, Gilead, MSD, Pentabase ApS, Becton Dickinson, Janssen, Moderna, and Astra Zeneca, outside the submitted work. All other authors report no potential conflicts.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Kaplan-Meier survival curve of the 90-day mortality rate in patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A, or influenza B. P values were estimated using a log-rank test.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Kaplan-Meier survival curve of 90-day mortality rate in patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A, or influenza B, stratified into those with and those without radiographically confirmed pneumonia. P values were estimated using a log-rank test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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