RSV responsible for one out of every 50 childhood deaths worldwide

The urgency for a world-first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine is at an all-time high after researchers found the disease was responsible for more than 100,000 global deaths in children in 2019.

An analysis of RSV data collated by Telethon Kids Institute, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of Melbourne and Nanjing Medical University identified that the virus is a key contributor to the global mortality burden, causing one in 50 deaths among children under five, and one in 28 deaths for babies under six months.

Published in The Lancet and featured in Medical Journal of Australia’s InSight+ magazine, the study also demonstrated that complications caused by RSV such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia led to 3.6 million hospitalisations in young children.

Associate Professor Hannah Moore, Epidemiologist from the Wesfarmers Centre for Vaccines and Infectious Diseases (WCVID) at Telethon Kids Institute and the School of Population Health at Curtin University, said the study examined data from published research all over the world and has provided valuable insights into the true impact of RSV.

“Our Western Australian population-based record linkage data from laboratory records, hospital records and birth and death records for all births over a 10-year period were combined with global statistics to get a thorough understanding of the scale of the problem,” A/Prof Moore said.

The study found that 97 per cent of childhood deaths caused by RSV were in low- and middle-income countries, with newborns at the highest risk, which demonstrates how crucial the first few months of life are for protection against the virus.

“This work highlights the critical importance of developing effective RSV vaccines and targeted prevention strategies to prioritise the most vulnerable groups, including vaccination in pregnancy and for babies under six months old.”

A/Prof Moore recently received a $400,000 Emerging Leaders Fellowship from the WA Government’s Future Health Research and Innovation Fund for her work using “big data” to help fast-track RSV vaccine development.

“RSV is one of the leading causes of hospital admission in young children in Australia and has been listed as vaccine priority target by the World Health Organization,” she said.

Along with my team, I will be conducting data-driven research about the burden of these diseases in children to produce the key information needed to drive vaccine policy decision-making.

“In addition, our WCVID Vaccine Trials Group have been participating in global RSV vaccine studies for the past 10 years, investigating the protective benefits of a vaccine given in pregnancy, as well as RSV monoclonal antibodies given to babies shortly after birth.

These combined efforts will bring us much closer to to having an RSV vaccine that will have a global impact for many generations to come.

For more information about RSV research by the WCVID at Telethon Kids Institute or to register your interest for upcoming studies, please visit infectiousdiseases.telethonkids.org.au or email vtg@telethonkids.org.au