Respiratory syncytial virus causes more hospitalizations and deaths in equatorial Brazil than influenza (including during the 2009 pandemic).

Respiratory syncytial virus causes more hospitalizations and deaths in equatorial Brazil than influenza (including during the 2009 pandemic). An Acad Bras Cienc. 2020;92(1):e20180584 Authors: Alonso WJ, Tamerius J, Freitas ARR Abstract Despite numerous studies evaluating influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), there is still a lack of knowledge about them, especially in tropical countries. We compared the relative importance of respiratory viruses by examining their spatiotemporal patterns, age-specific hospitalization data and mortality data for 2007-2012 obtained from official sources. The data were aggregated into "respiratory infection seasonal zones" formed combining states that had similar seasonal patterns of pneumonia and influenza (P&I). Equatorial-North where P&I peaks in the middle of the year, Equatorial-South where P&I peaks in the first semester and coincides with the rainy-season, Subtropical where P&I peaks are clearly concentrated in the winter season, and Tropical Midwest and South-East where P&I peaks are a transition between the South-Equatorial and the Sub-tropical. Our analyses indicate that RSV has higher impact than influenza in equatorial region of Brazil, which was particularly evident during the circulation of the 2009pdm strain, and suggests that seasonal influenza may have a lower impact in Equatorial Brazil (and perhaps in other tropical regions of the world) than previously ...
Source: An Acad Bras Cienc - Category: Science Authors: Tags: An Acad Bras Cienc Source Type: research