Respiratory syncytial virus brings sharp rise in adult deaths, hospitalizations

A major new study presented at ESCMID Global 2025 has issued a serious warning: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), often dismissed as a mild childhood illness, can triple the risk of death in adults within a year of infection. The research, conducted in Denmark, tracked over 5,000 adults with RSV-related acute respiratory infections (RSV-ARI) between 2011 and 2022 and compared them to nearly 16,000 matched controls.

The results were alarming:

3x higher risk of death within 12 months for RSV-infected adults
57% hospitalization rate among RSV-ARI patients
Nearly 4x higher intensive care admissions (5.3% vs. 1.4%)
Over double the healthcare costs (€20,181 per patient vs. €8,085)

RSV, while widely known for causing sniffles in children, poses a serious threat to adults—especially those with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It can trigger severe complications like pneumonia, worsen chronic lung conditions, and prolong recovery even after the infection passes.

Lead author Dr. Maria João Fonseca emphasized the lasting toll of RSV, saying patients fared worse than others long after the initial illness. “The most common adverse outcomes were exacerbations of COPD and asthma—already challenging on their own,” she said.

The study’s authors strongly advocated vaccination for high-risk groups, highlighting it as a cost-effective and crucial step to reduce complications, hospitalizations, and deaths.

As RSV vaccines for adults are becoming more accessible, the study urges healthcare systems to prioritize at-risk populations and reshape policies to better recognize the virus’s full impact.

#RSVAwareness #AdultHealth #PreventableDeaths #VaccinateToProtect