Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently completed the first phase of a RSV surveillance pilot study in fourteen countries (two to three in each WHO region) building on the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). This active surveillance strategy had several objectives including understanding RSV‐related health burden in a variety of settings. A range of approaches can be used to estimate disease burden; most approaches could not be applied by participating countries in the WHO surveillance pilot. This article provides the recommendations made by WHO for strengthening and expanding the scope of the RSV surveillance in the next phase to enable burden estimation.
Highlights
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), an acute respiratory viral infection which can result in severe disease and death for young in‐ fants, is being increasingly recognized as an important cause of mor‐ bidity and mortality globally
Shi et al have estimated that globally RSV‐associated lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) accounted for between 94 600 and 149 400 deaths annually
33 mil‐ lion RSV‐associated LRTI resulted in 3.2 million hospital admissions.[1]
Summary
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), an acute respiratory viral infection which can result in severe disease and death for young in‐ fants, is being increasingly recognized as an important cause of mor‐ bidity and mortality globally. Shi et al have estimated that globally RSV‐associated lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) accounted for between 94 600 and 149 400 deaths annually. The authors describe a higher burden in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) suggesting that these populations may benefit most from a future intervention. These estimates, have some limitations, due to lack of data from several high burden areas including sub‐Saharan Africa and limited data in narrow age bands for younger children, where the burden is usually highest and in whom future interventions are likely to be targeted.
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