Experts urge action to cut child deaths from deadly lung virus
- Date:
- July 7, 2017
- Source:
- University of Edinburgh
- Summary:
- Vaccines to combat a virus that can lead to fatal lung infections are urgently needed to help prevent child deaths worldwide, research suggests. Experts report that more than 115,000 children under five are dying each year from complications associated with the infection, called Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Around three million are admitted to hospital each year with the virus, which causes breathing difficulties and wheezing.
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Vaccines to combat a virus that can lead to fatal lung infections are urgently needed to help prevent child deaths worldwide, research suggests.
Experts report that more than 115,000 children under five are dying each year from complications associated with the infection, called Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
Almost half of those who die in hospital are younger than six months old and more than 99 per cent of deaths occur in developing countries, the study estimates. Half of the RSV deaths in these countries occur outwith hospital.
Five countries -- India, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia -- account for half of the estimated cases of RSV worldwide. Researchers say more data are needed from Africa and South Asia, where the number of RSV infections may be even higher.
Their findings highlight the pressing need for affordable treatments and vaccines as a priority.
The team led by the University of Edinburgh analysed data from 329 studies of RSV infections worldwide. Their estimates indicate there are more than 33 million cases of RSV infection in children under five each year worldwide.
Around three million are admitted to hospital each year with the virus, which causes breathing difficulties and wheezing.
The study is part of an ongoing initiative to provide the most comprehensive assessment of the global burden of RSV infections to date.
RSV is a common and highly contagious virus that infects the respiratory tract of most children before their second birthday. For most babies and young children, it causes nothing more than symptoms of a cold. In some cases, however, it can lead to severe lung complications such as pneumonia or bronchiolitis.
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Materials provided by University of Edinburgh. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Ting Shi, David A McAllister, Katherine L O'Brien, Eric A F Simoes, Shabir A Madhi, Bradford D Gessner, Fernando P Polack, Evelyn Balsells, Sozinho Acacio, Claudia Aguayo, Issifou Alassani, Asad Ali, Martin Antonio, Shally Awasthi, Juliet O Awori, Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, Henry C Baggett, Vicky L Baillie, Angel Balmaseda, Alfredo Barahona, Sudha Basnet, Quique Bassat, Wilma Basualdo, Godfrey Bigogo, Louis Bont, Robert F Breiman, W Abdullah Brooks, Shobha Broor, Nigel Bruce, Dana Bruden, Philippe Buchy, Stuart Campbell, Phyllis Carosone-Link, Mandeep Chadha, James Chipeta, Monidarin Chou, Wilfrido Clara, Cheryl Cohen, Elizabeth de Cuellar, Duc-Anh Dang, Budragchaagiin Dash-yandag, Maria Deloria-Knoll, Mukesh Dherani, Tekchheng Eap, Bernard E Ebruke, Marcela Echavarria, Carla Cecília de Freitas Lázaro Emediato, Rodrigo A Fasce, Daniel R Feikin, Luzhao Feng, Angela Gentile, Aubree Gordon, Doli Goswami, Sophie Goyet, Michelle Groome, Natasha Halasa, Siddhivinayak Hirve, Nusrat Homaira, Stephen R C Howie, Jorge Jara, Imane Jroundi, Cissy B Kartasasmita, Najwa Khuri-Bulos, Karen L Kotloff, Anand Krishnan, Romina Libster, Olga Lopez, Marilla G Lucero, Florencia Lucion, Socorro P Lupisan, Debora N Marcone, John P McCracken, Mario Mejia, Jennifer C Moisi, Joel M Montgomery, David P Moore, Cinta Moraleda, Jocelyn Moyes, Patrick Munywoki, Kuswandewi Mutyara, Mark P Nicol, D James Nokes, Pagbajabyn Nymadawa, Maria Tereza da Costa Oliveira, Histoshi Oshitani, Nitin Pandey, Gláucia Paranhos-Baccalà, Lia N Phillips, Valentina Sanchez Picot, Mustafizur Rahman, Mala Rakoto-Andrianarivelo, Zeba A Rasmussen, Barbara A Rath, Annick Robinson, Candice Romero, Graciela Russomando, Vahid Salimi, Pongpun Sawatwong, Nienke Scheltema, Brunhilde Schweiger, J Anthony G Scott, Phil Seidenberg, Kunling Shen, Rosalyn Singleton, Viviana Sotomayor, Tor A Strand, Agustinus Sutanto, Mariam Sylla, Milagritos D Tapia, Somsak Thamthitiwat, Elizabeth D Thomas, Rafal Tokarz, Claudia Turner, Marietjie Venter, Sunthareeya Waicharoen, Jianwei Wang, Wanitda Watthanaworawit, Lay-Myint Yoshida, Hongjie Yu, Heather J Zar, Harry Campbell, Harish Nair. Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children in 2015: a systematic review and modelling study. The Lancet, 2017; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30938-8
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