Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, National Vaccine Innovation Platform, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210000, PR China.
Center for Immunization Planning, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
BMC Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 9;24(1):1129. doi: 10.1186/s12879-024-10048-1.
To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and infections of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza viruses in hospitalized elderly patients with respiratory tract infections in Suzhou City, China, and to compare the differences in clinical characteristics and economic burden associated with these two infections.
In this prospective study, pathogenetic testing and clinical data for hospitalized patients aged 60 years and older with respiratory tract infections were collected in five hospitals through stratified cluster sampling from December 2023 to May 2024. Comparative study on epidemic characteristics, clinical features and costs of cases who infected RSV alone and influenza alone were conducted.
Among 1,894 cases included, the RSV positivity rate was 5.91% during the 2023-2024 winter-spring season, while the influenza positivity rate was 9.61%. RSV-B was the predominant subtype of RSV, and influenza A (primarily H3N2) was the dominant strain among the influenza-positive cases. Compared with cases infected influenza virus alone, those infected RSV alone had lower occurrence frequency of fever (18.8% vs. 35.7%, P = 0.004), higher occurrence frequency of complications of lower respiratory tract infections (70.8% vs. 54.8%, P = 0.011), higher direct medical costs ($996.2 vs. $841.1, P = 0.017) and total costs ($1019.7 vs. $888.1, P = 0.036). RSV single infection is more common in female cases (P = 0.007) and diabetic cases (P = 0.007) than influenza virus single infection.
During the winter and spring months, RSV is the second most common pathogen after influenza virus among older adults hospitalized for respiratory infections in Suzhou, China. Patients infected RSV are more likely to develop complications with lower respiratory tract infections and have higher medical costs than the influenza. RSV infection in the elderly should be emphasized, especially in female patients and diabetic patients.
调查中国苏州市住院老年呼吸道感染患者呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）和流感病毒的流行特征和感染情况，并比较这两种感染的临床特征和经济负担差异。
在这项前瞻性研究中，通过分层聚类抽样，从 2023 年 12 月至 2024 年 5 月，在五家医院采集了 60 岁及以上因呼吸道感染住院的患者的病原体检测和临床数据。对单独感染 RSV 和单独感染流感的病例进行了流行特征、临床特征和成本的比较研究。
在纳入的 1894 例患者中，2023-2024 年冬春季 RSV 阳性率为 5.91%，流感阳性率为 9.61%。RSV-B 是 RSV 的主要亚型，流感阳性病例中流感 A（主要为 H3N2）为优势株。与单独感染流感病毒的病例相比，单独感染 RSV 的病例发热发生率较低（18.8% vs. 35.7%，P=0.004），下呼吸道感染并发症发生率较高（70.8% vs. 54.8%，P=0.011），直接医疗费用较高（996.2 美元 vs. 841.1 美元，P=0.017），总费用较高（1019.7 美元 vs. 888.1 美元，P=0.036）。RSV 单一感染在女性病例（P=0.007）和糖尿病病例（P=0.007）中比流感病毒单一感染更为常见。
在中国苏州市，冬季和春季住院老年呼吸道感染患者中，RSV 是仅次于流感病毒的第二大病原体。感染 RSV 的患者发生下呼吸道感染并发症的可能性更高，医疗费用也更高。应重视老年人 RSV 感染，尤其是女性患者和糖尿病患者。
