Hospitalisation trends of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in adults, six European countries, before and during COVID-19, 2016 to 2023

Abstract

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of morbidity in older adults. Aim: We aimed to investigate the epidemiology of RSV in adults in five European countries and one region before and during the COVID-19 era. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis using national hospital admission data from Denmark, England, Finland, the Netherlands, Scotland and regional prospective surveillance data from the Spain-Valencia region. We included patients aged >= 18 years hospitalised for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) 2016-2023 and assessed RSV-coded and laboratory-confirmed hospitalisations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and mortality. Results: Hospitalisations associated with RSV varied by country and year but increased with increasing age regardless of the use of RSV-coded or RSV-confirmed data, the country or year. The highest hospitalisation rates were in patients aged >= 85 years. We found that RSV coded hospitalisations underestimated the case numbers when compared with laboratory-confirmed cases by an average of 1.9 (standard deviation (SD): +/- 0.9). Admissions to ICU associated with RSV in England and CFR in England and Finland displayed different patterns post-COVID-19 pandemic peak but were not notably higher compared with RTI admissions. Conclusions: Our findings reveal a consistency of RSV hospital admission patterns between European countries in the study period, with higher incidence rates among older patients. The differences between the numbers of RSV-coded and laboratory-confirmed cases highlight the critical need for improved surveillance, diagnostic practices and coding guidelines to better assess the incidence. Our findings could be vital for guiding public health strategies, particularly with the introduction of RSV vaccines for older adults.