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. 2018 Jan 19;67(2):71-76.
doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6702a4.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Seasonality - United States, 2014-2017

Erica Billig Rose, Alexandra Wheatley, Gayle Langley, Susan Gerber, Amber Haynes

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Seasonality - United States, 2014-2017

Erica Billig Rose et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infection in young children worldwide (1-3). In the United States, RSV infection results in >57,000 hospitalizations and 2 million outpatient visits each year among children aged <5 years (3). Recent studies have highlighted the importance of RSV in adults as well as children (4). CDC reported RSV seasonality nationally, by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regions* and for the state of Florida, using a new statistical method that analyzes polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratory detections reported to the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) (https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nrevss/index.html). Nationally, across three RSV seasons, lasting from the week ending July 5, 2014 through July 1, 2017, the median RSV onset occurred at week 41 (mid-October), and lasted 31 weeks until week 18 (early May). The median national peak occurred at week 5 (early February). Using these new methods, RSV season circulation patterns differed from those reported from previous seasons (5). Health care providers and public health officials use RSV circulation data to guide diagnostic testing and to time the administration of RSV immunoprophylaxis for populations at high risk for severe respiratory illness (6). With several vaccines and other immunoprophlyaxis products in development, estimates of RSV circulation are also important to the design of clinical trials and future vaccine effectiveness studies.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflicts of interest were reported.

Figures

FIGURE
FIGURE
Respiratory syncytial virus season duration and peak, by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Region (headquarters),,†,§ and in Florida — National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System, United States, July 2014–June 2015 (A), July 2015–June 2016 (B), and July 2016–June 2017 (C) * Listed by region number and headquarters city. Region 1 (Boston): Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Region 2 (New York): New Jersey and New York; Region 3 (Philadelphia): Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia; Region 4 (Atlanta): Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee; Region 5 (Chicago): Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin; Region 6 (Dallas): Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas; Region 7 (Kansas City): Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska; Region 8 (Denver): Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming; Region 9 (San Francisco): Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada; Region 10 (Seattle): Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wyoming did not have laboratories meeting the inclusion criteria for the 2014–15 season analysis. District of Columbia, Idaho, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wyoming did not have laboratories meeting the inclusion criteria for the 2015–16 season analysis. District of Columbia, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wyoming did not have laboratories meeting the inclusion criteria for the 2016–17 season analysis. † Region 4 (Atlanta) excludes data from Florida. § Region 9 (San Francisco) excludes data from Hawaii.
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