Annual respiratory syncytial virus-associated hospitalization rates varied from 35.7 to 132.3 per 1,000 children aged younger than 6 months<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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FRIDAY, July 14, 2023 (HealthDay News) — American Indian\/Alaska Native (AI\/AN) children experience high rates of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated acute respiratory illness (ARI) hospitalization, according to a study published online July 14 in Pediatrics<\/em>.<\/p>\n Jessica E. Atwell, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues conducted active, facility-based surveillance for ARI among hospitalized AI\/AN children in November 2019 to May 2020. A total of 324 children younger than 5 years old from Chinle, Arizona (Navajo Nation); Whiteriver, Arizona (White Mountain Apache Tribal lands); and Anchorage and the Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK) Delta regions of Alaska who met the World Health Organization case definition for extended severe ARI were enrolled.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 53 percent of the children tested RSV-positive. One-third of RSV-associated hospitalizations occurred in infants younger than 6 months. The mean length of stay varied from 3.5 to 5.7 days (Chinle and YK Delta, respectively) among those who were RSV-positive, and use of supplemental oxygen varied from 70 to 100 percent (Anchorage and Whiteriver, respectively). Per 1,000 children younger than 6 months old, the annual RSV-associated hospitalization rates ranged from 35.7 to 132.3 for Anchorage and YK Delta, respectively. For children younger than 5 years old, the rates ranged from 7.7 to 32.7 for Anchorage and YK Delta, respectively.<\/p>\n “These findings show that AI\/AN children continue to experience high rates of RSV-associated ARI hospitalization,” the authors write. “Improvements in the socioeconomic determinants of health for AI\/AN children and RSV-prevention products are urgently needed.”<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n