Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease in Alaska Native Children

• Published in: The Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Main Authors: Karron, Ruth A., Singleton, Rosalyn J., Bulkow, Lisa, Parkinson, Alan, Kruse, Donn, DeSmet, Irma, Indorf, Carol, Petersen, Kenneth M., Leombruno, Donna, Hurlburt, Debra, Santosham, Mathuram, Harrison, Lee H., for the RSV Alaska Study Group
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1999
• Subjects: Major Articles; Yukon; Kuskokwim; Alaska
• Online Access: http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/180/1/41; https://doi.org/10.1086/314841

Hospitalization rates for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection range from 1 to 20/1000 infants. To determine the rate and severity of RSV infections requiring hospitalization for infants in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK) Delta of Alaska, a 3-year prospective surveillance study was conducted. The annual rate of RSV hospitalization for YK Delta infants <1 year of age was 53–249/1000. RSV infection was the most frequent cause of infant hospitalization. RSV disease severity did not differ among non—high-risk infants in the YK Delta and at Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH). On average, 1/125 infants born in the YK Delta required mechanical ventilation for RSV infection. During the peak season, ∼$1034/child <3 years of age was spent on RSV hospitalization in the YK Delta. In YK Delta infants ⩽6 months old, RSV micro-neutralizing antibody titers <1200 were associated with severe disease (odds, ratio = 6.2 P = .03). In the YK Delta and at JHH, newborns may be at greater risk for severe RSV illness than previously thought.