Disease severity similar for RSV as unvaccinated COVID-19, influenza

Disease severity is similar for patients hospitalized with respiratory syncytial disease (RSV) and unvaccinated adults with COVID-19 or influenza, according to a study published online April 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Diya Surie, M.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues examined disease severity among adults hospitalized with RSV and compared it to the severity of COVID-19 and influenza disease in a cohort study.

A total of 7,998 adults admitted to the hospital with acute respiratory illness and laboratory-confirmed RSV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or influenza infection (6.1, 80.3, and 13.7%, respectively) were prospectively enrolled from 25 hospitals between Feb. 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023.

The researchers found that 12.0% of patients with RSV experienced invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) or death compared with 14.2 and 9.2%, respectively, of unvaccinated and vaccinated patients with COVID-19 and 10.3 and 5.1%, respectively, of unvaccinated and vaccinated patients with influenza.

The odds of IMV or in-hospital death were not significantly different for patients hospitalized with RSV and unvaccinated patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza in adjusted analyses; the odds of IMV or death were significantly elevated among patients hospitalized with RSV versus vaccinated patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza (adjusted odds ratios, 1.38 and 2.81, respectively).

"Newly approved RSV vaccines for adults aged 60 years and older have the potential to reduce this severity, similar to attenuation of disease severity achieved with COVID-19 and influenza vaccination, as previously reported and also observed in this analysis," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry; one author disclosed a patent for an airway device.