Low levels of respiratory syncytial virus activity in Europe during the 2020/21 season: what can we expect in the coming summer and autumn/winter?

• Published in: Eurosurveillance
• Main Authors: van Summeren, Jojanneke, Meijer, Adam, Aspelund, Guðrún, Casalegno, Jean Sebastien, Erna, Guðrún, Hoang, Uy, Lina, Bruno, de Lusignan, Simon, Teirlinck, Anne C, Thors, Valtýr, Paget, John
• Other Authors: 1Nivel, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, the Netherlands. 2Centre for Infectious Diseases Research, Diagnostics and laboratory Surveillance, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands. 3Centre for Health Security and Communicable Disease Control, The Directorate of Health, Reykjavik, Iceland. 4Virology Department, Institut des Agents Infectieux, Hôpital de la Croix-Rousse, HCL, Lyon, France. 5Department of Clinical Microbiology, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland. 6Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. 7The members of the group are listed under Investigators. 8Centre for Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology and Surveillance, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands. 9Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 10Children's Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) 2021
• Subjects: COVID-19 pandemic; RSV; Respiratory syncytial virus; epidemiology; surveillance data; Veirusýkingar; COVID-19; Faraldsfræði; Human; Europe; Pasteur; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/621963; https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.29.2100639

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink below Since the introduction of non-pharmacological interventions to control COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity in Europe has been limited. Surveillance data for 17 countries showed delayed RSV epidemics in France (≥ 12 w) and Iceland (≥ 4 w) during the 2020/21 season. RSV cases (predominantly small children) in France and Iceland were older compared with previous seasons. We hypothesise that future RSV epidemic(s) could start outside the usual autumn/winter season and be larger than expected. Year-round surveillance of RSV is of critical importance. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; RSV; Respiratory syncytial virus; epidemiology; surveillance data. Sanofi Pasteur AstraZeneca