Mexican Interdisciplinary Consensus on the Diagnosis and Preventive Measures for Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections

Abstract

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of respiratory illness in children and adults in Latin America and Mexico. RSV circulates with seasonal peaks in fall and winter. Individuals at highest risk for severe infection are premature infants and those with comorbidities, as well as older adults with cardiopulmonary pathologies and/or varying degrees of immunocompromise.

Objective: To provide an updated landscape of the epidemiology, risk groups, diagnostic methods, and prevention of RSV infection in Mexico.

Methods: Convened by the Asociación Mexicana de Infectología y Microbiología Clínica, 28 interdisciplinary experts participated in a consensus meeting held in November 2023. Four groups, each with seven experts and a medical writer, were formed to discuss epidemiology and diagnosis, risk groups, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies (mABs). Predefined questions, formulated by a team of four experts, were discussed within each group, and consensus was reached on the answers. These responses were then analyzed and organized into recommendations based on national and international evidence.

Results: Evidence-based recommendations for epidemiological surveillance, diagnosis, and prevention of RSV infection were proposed. Future perspectives regarding the usefulness of new vaccines and passive immunoprophylaxis were analyzed.

Conclusions: Timely identification of at-risk populations, diagnosis and treatment of RSV infection, and particularly the rational use of mABs and vaccines are key strategies to reduce the clinical and epidemiological burden of RSV infection.

Keywords: Monoclonal antibodies; Pneumonia; Respiratory syncytial virus; Vaccines.