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Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is well known for its impact on children, but its burden in adults remains underexplored, partly due to limited PCR testing before the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the medical burden of RSV infections in adults was retrospectively investigated using 6-year longitudinal data from a university hospital in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Outcomes of 380 PCR-confirmed RSV cases were compared with 1088 influenza A/B cases from 2018 to 2023, stratified by age groups ( < 60 and ≥ 60 years). Among RSV cases, 59.7% required hospitalization, of which 22.9% needed oxygen supply. In the whole group hospitalization rates were comparable between RSV and influenza cases, but oxygen supply was more frequent in influenza infections. However, in patients aged ≥ 60 years, no significant differences were observed in hospitalization, oxygen supply, or fatal outcomes between RSV and influenza, indicating a comparable disease burden for both viruses in this group. These findings highlight the significant clinical impact of RSV in adults, particularly those aged ≥ 60 years, paralleling that of influenza. Given influenza's established pathogenic reputation, this underscores the importance of targeted vaccination strategies against RSV, especially for high-risk age groups.
Trifonov et al. (Wed,) studied this question.