Pediatric RSV led to higher hospitalization rates than omicron or flu: Study

A new study found hospital admission rates were higher for RSV than for the omicron strain or influenza A/B in children presenting at Swedish emergency departments

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A retrospective study revealed that hospital admission rates were far higher for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) than for the omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 or influenza A/B in children presenting at Swedish emergency departments (EDs) from August 2021 to September 2022.

Hospitalization rates were 81.7% for RSV, 31.5% for omicron, and 27.7% for influenza, Dr. Pontus Hedberg and researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm reported. The results appeared in a JAMA Pediatrics.

"That RSV can be dangerous for both infants and young children is well-known, but the major differences in hospitalization rates observed for RSV compared with both SARS-CoV-2 omicron and influenza A/B across all age groups were surprising," Hedberg told MedPage Today by email.