MIC STRIP project

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes severe disease in the very young, elderly and in high risk groups. We have estimated that RSV was associated with 34 million cases of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI), 3.4 million ALRI hospitalisations and 55,000 to 199,000 deaths in children <5 years in 2005 [1]. These estimates were based on limited data and there is a substantial gap in knowledge (on morbidity and associated healthcare and social costs) across Europe. RSV infection in childhood is associated with subsequent wheezing and asthma [2-4]. These long-term sequelae pose a substantial additional burden on the healthcare system. In addition, RSV is a significant cause of ALRI morbidity in elderly and COPD patients [5, 6]. Most published data on RSV disease burden in the elderly (aged >65 years) are from the United States and from hospital settings. The knowledge gaps have an impact on Europe's ability to make evidence-based decisions nationally regarding novel vaccines and therapeutics. There is a parallel need to assemble clinical resources to identify the correlates of severe RSV disease for clinical management, classification of disease severity in clinical trials and identification of biomarkers for severe disease.

Keywords:MICROBIOLOGY

Disciplines:Microbiology, Systems biology, Laboratory medicine

Project type:Collaboration project