Epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus infection and its effect on children with heart disease in Hong Kong: a multicentre review

Objectives: There is no guideline in Hong Kong regarding respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunoprophylaxis for children with heart disease because of a lack of local data on RSV infection.Therefore, this study evaluated the epidemiology and impact of RSV infection on children with heart disease in Hong Kong, with the goal of providing recommendations regarding RSV immunoprophylaxis.Methods: This multicentre retrospective casecontrol study on paediatric RSV infection was conducted in four local regional hospitals from 2013 to 2015.The patients' demographic and clinical data were retrieved and analysed.Results: There were 3538 RSV hospitalisations during the study period, and the mortality rate was 0.14%.Some RSV seasonality was present in Hong Kong, primarily in spring and summer.Respiratory syncytial virus infection was positively correlated with relative humidity and negatively correlated with wind speed and atmospheric pressure.Patients with heart disease had a more severe outcome than those without, including longer median hospital stay (4 vs 2 days, P<0.001), higher complication rate (28.6% vs 9.8%, P<0.001), and higher rates of intensive care (11.6% vs 1.4%, P<0.001) and mechanical ventilation (3.6% vs 0.4%, P=0.003).Complications in noncardiac patients included myocarditis and Kawasaki Epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus infection and its effect on children with heart disease in Hong Kong: a multicentre review