New Delhi, Sep 10
Even healthy, full‐term babies are at significant risk of intensive care or prolonged hospitalisation from serious respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections -- especially during the first three months of life, according to a study.
RSV is a common cause of respiratory infections in young children. Each year, RSV causes an estimated 3.6 million RSV-associated hospitalisations and approximately 100,000 RSV-attributable deaths in children under the age of five.
It is well-known that premature babies and children with chronic diseases are at increased risk of developing severe illness when infected with RSV. But it has not been entirely clear how common severe disease is among previously healthy children.
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden analysed data from over 2.3 million children born in Sweden between 2001 and 2022 to find out who is at greatest risk of suffering serious complications or dying from an RSV infection.