Respiratory Syncytial Virus Seasonality: A Global Overview

Obando-Pacheco P, Justicia-Grande AJ, Rivero-Calle I, RodrÍguez-Tenreiro C, Sly P, Ramilo, Mejias A, Baraldi E, Papadopoulos NG, Nair H, Nunes MC, Kragten-Tabatabaie L, Heikkinen T, Greenough A, Stein RT, ManzoniI P, Bont L, Martinon-Torres F, RESVINET foundation.

RSV infection epidemiology has been the subject of many studies. As novel RSV therapeutics are reaching the final stages of development, the need for epidemiologic data grows. Specifically, seasonality of the virus has a very important role in predicting the epidemic waves. In this article, Martinon-Torres led his ReSViNET colleges to analyse the different patterns and distributions of the RSV worldwide, gathering information from 27 different countries distributed in the five continents. With the inclusion of reports and data mostly from official surveillance programs from the different countries, they manage to produce a powerful, robust and homogeneous report on global country-specific RSV seasonality. They also conducted a literature review of medical databases to complement and enrich the report and to cover for those areas where there is lack of official surveillance programs on RSV. The inclusion of various maps and tables with specific data on the start, end, peak and duration of the RSV epidemic in the different countries allow the readers to easily grasp the situation of the virus in the world per epidemiological week or month. This article emerges as a powerful tool for the future implementation and optimization of the local campaigns and protocols for prevention, diagnose and treatment of RSV infections.

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