Integrating epidemiological and genetic data with different sampling intensities into a dynamic model of respiratory syncytial virus transmission

Abstract

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is responsible for a significant burden of acute respiratory illness in children under 5 years old. Prior to rolling out any vaccination program, identification of the source of infant infections could further guide vaccination strategies. Methods: We extended a dynamic model calibrated at the individual host level initially fit to social-temporal data on shedding patterns to include whole genome sequencing data available at a lower sampling intensity. Results: In this study population of 493 individuals with 55 infants under the age of 1 year distributed across 47 households, we found that 52% of RSV-B and 60% of RSV-A cases arose from infection within the household. Forty-five percent of infant infections appeared to occur in the household, of which 68% were a result of transmission from a child aged between 2 and 13 years living in the same household as the infant. Conclusion: These results further highlight the importance of pre-school and school-aged children in RSV transmission, particularly the role they play in directly infecting the household infant. These age groups are a potential RSV vaccination target group.

Analysis of Incidence and Clinical Characteristics of RSV Infection in Hospitalized Children: A Retrospective Study

“…Our study found that RSV infection was common in hospitalized children of different ages; the infection most commonly occurred in children<6 months old (45.3%), and the proportion of male children (71.9%) was higher than that of female children (28.1%), which coincides with the results presented by Kombe et al 10 Li et al 11 and Zhu et al 12 RSV is the most common pathogen causing pneumonia. 13 Our study found that 76.6% of children with RSV infection had pneumonia.…”

Level of maternal antibodies against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) nucleoprotein at birth and risk of RSV very severe lower respiratory tract infection

“…This profile is not surprising; for instance, it is well known that majority of transplacental transfer of IgG occurs during the third trimester of pregnancy and that preterm newborns have a compromised passive immunity 27–29 . Furthermore, multiparous mothers are likely to have been exposed to RSV through household transmission from a co‐occupant aged between 2 and 13 years, 30 as well as those delivering at the end of the epidemic season. These factors are also known to be risk factors for severe RSV infection 31–33 .…”

Increased transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Denmark during UEFA European championships

“…In outbreaks with multiple infected that are epidemiologically linked, finding the most likely transmission route or probable transmission source for each case might prove challenging, and even more so in larger outbreaks. Many different approaches to this have been proposed and have been evaluated to be more efficient than phylogenetic analysis alone [13][14][15]. To establish a probable source of transmission to each secondary case, we first selected transmissions, closest to the expected average serial interval between the expected onset of disease of the two cases.…”