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Charlie, 6, has ended up in hospital twice with invasive Strep A infection over his short lifetime – the first time when just three years old.
The urgency for a world-first respiratory syncytial virus vaccine is at an all-time high.
Hannah Peter Moore Richmond OAM BSc (Hons) GradDipClinEpi PhD MBBS MRCP(UK) FRACP Head, Infectious Diseases Research Head, Vaccine Trials Group 08
Christopher Blyth MBBS (Hons) DCH FRACP FRCPA PhD Centre Head, Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases; Co-Head, Infectious Diseases
We compared the epidemiology, severity and management of hospitalized respiratory syncytial virus (n = 305) and human metapneumovirus (n = 39) bronchiolitis in a setting with high respiratory virus testing (95% of admissions tested). Respiratory syncytial virus-positive infants were younger and tended to require more hydration support and longer hospital stays compared to human metapneumovirus-positive infants. Respiratory support requirements were similar between groups despite significant age differences.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes annual epidemics of infections affecting the whole population. In vitro, it has been shown to infect and persist in human dendritic cells (DCs) for prolonged periods. Initially persistence is associated with low levels of replication before the virus becomes dormant. Reactivation of viral replication can be triggered many months later.
The incidence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults is inadequately defined and the impact of SARS-CoV-2-related non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) is underexplored. Using laboratory data, we described the detection rate of RSV in adults ≥16 years in Western Australia (WA) between 2017 and 2023.
Climatic conditions play a key role in the transmission and pathophysiology of respiratory tract infections, either directly or indirectly. However, their impact on the COVID-19 pandemic propagation is yet to be studied.
Appropriate innate immune function is essential to limit pathogenesis and severity of severe lower respiratory infections (sLRI) during infancy, a leading cause of hospitalization and risk factor for subsequent asthma in this age group.
First Nations children hospitalised with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) are at increased risk of future bronchiectasis (up to 15-19%) within 24-months post-hospitalisation. An identified predictive factor is persistent wet cough a month after hospitalisation and this is likely related to protracted bacterial bronchitis which can progress to bronchiectasis, if untreated.