Garg Ishan, Shekhar Rahul, Sheikh Abu Baker, Pal Suman
Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA.
Infect Dis Rep. 2022 Jul 24;14(4):558-568. doi: 10.3390/idr14040059.
Seasonal epidemics of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the leading causes of hospitalization and mortality among children. Preventive measures implemented to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, including facemasks, stay-at-home orders, closure of schools and local-national borders, and hand hygiene, may have also prevented the transmission of RSV and influenza. However, with the easing of COVID-19 imposed restrictions, many regions are noticing a delayed RSV outbreak. Some of these regions have also noted an increase in severity of these delayed RSV outbreaks partly due to a lack of protective immunity in the community following a lack of exposure from the previous season. Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic can be implemented for controlling RSV outbreaks, including: (1) measures to reduce the spread, (2) effective vaccine development, and (3) genomic surveillance tools and computational modeling to predict the timing and severity of RSV outbreaks. These measures can help reduce the severity and prepare the health care system to deal with future RSV outbreaks by appropriate and timely allocation of health care resources.
呼吸道合胞病毒(RSV)的季节性流行是儿童住院和死亡的主要原因之一。为减少严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2(SARS-CoV-2)传播而实施的预防措施,包括戴口罩、居家令、学校和地方及国家边境关闭以及手部卫生,可能也预防了RSV和流感的传播。然而,随着2019冠状病毒病(COVID-19)相关限制的放宽,许多地区注意到RSV疫情出现延迟。其中一些地区还指出,这些延迟出现的RSV疫情的严重程度有所增加,部分原因是由于上一季缺乏接触,社区中缺乏保护性免疫力。从COVID-19大流行中吸取的经验教训可用于控制RSV疫情,包括:(1)减少传播的措施,(2)有效的疫苗研发,以及(3)用于预测RSV疫情发生时间和严重程度的基因组监测工具和计算模型。这些措施有助于减轻疫情严重程度,并通过适当和及时分配医疗资源,使医疗系统做好应对未来RSV疫情的准备。