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Background: Every winter, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease results in thousands of cases in Norwegian children under 5 years of age. We aim to assess the RSV-related economic burden and the cost-effectiveness of upcoming RSV disease prevention strategies including year-round maternal immunization and year-round and seasonal monoclonal antibody (mAb) programs.Methods: Epidemiological and cost data were obtained from Norwegian national registries, while quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) lost and intervention characteristics were extracted from literature and phase 3 clinical trials. A static model was used and uncertainty was accounted for probabilistically. Value of information was used to assess decision uncertainty. Extensive scenario analyses were conducted, including accounting for long-term consequences of RSV disease.Results: We estimate an annual average of 13 517 RSV cases and 1572 hospitalizations in children under 5, resulting in 79.6 million Norwegian kroner (~€8 million) treatment costs. At €51 per dose for all programs, a 4-month mAb program for neonates born in November to February is the cost-effective strategy for willingness to pay (WTP) values up to €40 000 per QALY gained. For higher WTP values, the longer 6-month mAb program that immunizes neonates from October to March becomes cost-effective. Sensitivity analyses show that year-round maternal immunization can become a cost-effective strategy if priced lower than mAb.Conclusions: Assuming the same pricing, seasonal mAb programs are cost-effective over year-round programs in Norway. The timing and duration of the cost-effective seasonal program are sensitive to the pattern of the RSV season in a country, so continued RSV surveillance data are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes a substantial burden in older adults. Viral load in RSV-infected adults is generally lower compared to young children, which could result in suboptimal sensitivity of RSV diagnostics. Although the Xpert® Xpress Flu/RSV assay has been used in routine clinical care, its sensitivity to diagnose RSV infection in older adults is largely unknown. We aimed to compare the performance of the Xpert® Xpress Flu/RSV assay with real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in home-dwelling older adults (≥60 years of age).Methods: Nasopharyngeal swabs were tested with Xpert® Xpress Flu/RSV and compared to RSV RT-PCR in older adults with acute respiratory tract infections with different levels of disease severity.Results: We studied 758 respiratory samples from 561 older adults from 2 consecutive RSV seasons. Thirty-five (4.6%) samples tested positive for RSV by at least 1 of the assays, of which 2 samples were negative by Xpert® Xpress Flu/RSV and 3 samples by real-time RT-PCR. The positive percentage agreement (PPA) was 90.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 76.4%-96.8%) and negative percentage agreement was 99.7% (95% CI, 99.0%-99.9%). Viral loads were low (≤103 copies/mL or cycle threshold value ≥34) in all cases with discordant results for the 2 assays.Conclusions: The PPA of Xpert® Xpress Flu/RSV compared to routine RT-PCR is high for RSV detection in home-dwelling older adults. The assay is fast and easy to use at the point of care.Clinical Trials Registration: NCT03621930. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections occur in human populations around the globe, causing disease of variable severity, disproportionately affecting infants and older adults (>65 years of age). Immune responses can be protective but also contribute to disease. Experimental studies in animals enable detailed investigation of immune responses, provide insights into clinical questions, and accelerate the development of passive and active vaccination. We aimed to review the role of antibody and T-cell responses in relation to RSV disease severity in animals.Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies examining the association between T-cell responses/phenotype or antibody titers and severity of RSV disease. The PubMed, Zoological Record, and Embase databases were screened from January 1980 to May 2018 to identify animal studies of RSV infection that assessed serum antibody titer or T lymphocytes with disease severity as an outcome. Sixty-three studies were included in the final review.Results: RSV-specific antibody appears to protect from disease in mice, but such an effect was less evident in bovine RSV. Strong T-cell, Th1, Th2, Th17, CD4/CD8 responses, and weak Treg responses accompany severe disease in mice.Conclusions: Murine studies suggest that measures of T-lymphocyte activity (particularly CD4 and CD8 T cells) may be predictive biomarkers of severity. Further inquiry is merited to validate these results and assess relevance as biomarkers for human disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bronchiolitis is the commonest cause of respiratory related hospital admissions in young children. This study aimed to describe temporal trends in bronchiolitis admissions for children under 2 years of age in Scotland by patient characteristics, socioeconomic deprivation, and duration of admission.Methods: The national hospital admissions database for Scotland was used to extract data on all bronchiolitis admissions (International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision, code J21) in children <2 years of age from 2001 to 2016. Deprivation quintiles were classified using the 2011 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.Results: Over the 15-year study period, admission rates for children under 2 years old increased 2.20-fold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-3.6-fold) from 17.2 (15.9-18.5) to 37.7 (37.4-38.1) admissions per 1000 children per year. Admissions peaked in infants aged 1 month, and in those born in the 3 months preceding the peak bronchiolitis month-September, October, and November. Admissions from the most-deprived quintile had the highest overall rate of admission, at 40.5 per 1000 children per year (95% CI, 39.5-41.5) compared with the least-deprived quintile, at 23.0 admissions per 1000 children per year (22.1-23.9). The most-deprived quintile had the greatest increase in admissions over time, whereas the least-deprived quintile had the lowest increase. Zero-day admissions, defined as admission and discharge within the same calendar date, increased 5.3-fold (5.1-5.5) over the study period, with the highest increase in patients in the most-deprived quintile.Conclusions: This study provides baseline epidemiological data to aid policy makers in the strategic planning of preventative interventions. With the majority of bronchiolitis caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and several RSV vaccines and monoclonal antibodies currently in clinical trials, understanding national trends in bronchiolitis admissions is an important proxy for determining potential RSV vaccination strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]