Key Objectives:
- Discuss CDC’s current activities to assess RSV burden and RSV-associated morbidity and mortality
- Discuss experiences with RSV surveillance from state, territorial, and local public health perspectives
- Identify and discuss epidemiologic evidence gaps prior to potential vaccine introduction in the United States
Brief Summary:
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children younger than 1 year of age in the United States and is being increasingly recognized as a significant cause of respiratory illness in older adults. With more than 50 vaccine products and other therapeutics in development, it is important to document disease burden through surveillance in all age groups and to assess RSV-associated morbidity and mortality prior to potential vaccine introduction. With support from local and state partners, CDC activities include the expansion of active, population-based surveillance through the New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN) to determine the etiology and burden of acute viral respiratory diseases among hospitalized children <5 years of age; monitoring RSV seasonality in the US through the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), a laboratory-based system; investigating and validating RSV-coded deaths of children <5 year of age since 2014; and conducting pilot studies to assess viral etiology of respiratory infections among residents in adult long-term care and pediatric chronic care facilities. Discussion will focus on laboratory and disease surveillance and documenting disease burden and mortality. Potential plans for public health response to RSV vaccine implementation will be discussed.