Since then, additional studies in hospitalized adults have suggested that RSV may be an important cause of illness in community-dwelling elderly people. However, RSV was not recognized as a potentially serious problem in older adults until the 1970s, when outbreaks of the virus occurred in long-term care facilities. Mild illness in young adults with reinfection was described and confirmed in subsequent family studies. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was first recognized in 1957 as a cause of bronchiolitis in infants and is the most commonly identified cause of lower respiratory tract infection in young children.
On the basis of the diagnostic codes of the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification at discharge, RSV infection accounted for 10.6 percent of hospitalizations for pneumonia, 11.4 percent for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 5.4 percent for congestive heart failure, and 7.2 percent for asthma. In the hospitalized cohort, RSV infection and influenza A resulted in similar lengths of stay, rates of use of intensive care (15 percent and 12 percent, respectively), and mortality (8 percent and 7 percent, respectively). Among healthy elderly patients, RSV infection generated fewer office visits than influenza however, the use of health care services by high-risk adults was similar in the two groups. RSV infection developed annually in 3 to 7 percent of healthy elderly patients and in 4 to 10 percent of high-risk adults. RSV infection was identified in 102 patients in the prospective cohorts and 142 hospitalized patients, and influenza A was diagnosed in 44 patients in the prospective cohorts and 154 hospitalized patients. A total of 2514 illnesses were evaluated.
Results A total of 608 healthy elderly patients and 540 high-risk adults were enrolled in prospective surveillance, and 1388 hospitalized patients were enrolled.
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