Skip to main content

Personalized Tool Can Predict Infants at Increased Risk for RSV

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 9, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9, 2024 -- A personalized tool can predict infants at increased risk for severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) who would benefit most from RSV prevention products, according to a study published in the March issue of the Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Brittney M. Snyder, Ph.D., from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues conducted a population-based birth cohort study of infants born from 1995 to 2007 to develop and internally validate a personalized risk prediction tool for use among all newborns. The tool utilizes readily available birth/postnatal data to predict RSV LRTI requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission.

The researchers found that 0.2 percent of the 429,365 infants had severe RSV LRTI requiring ICU admission, at a median age of 66 days. The tool included 19 variables and demonstrated good predictive accuracy (area under the curve, 0.78). The tool identified infants who did not qualify for palivizumab but who had higher predicted risk levels than infants who did qualify (27 percent of noneligible infants with >0.16 percent predicted probabilities).

"RSV-associated hospitalizations requiring ICU-level care results in significant morbidity and identifies infants at highest risk of death. In a rapidly changing era of RSV prevention, this risk prediction tool is a first step in identifying infants in the general population who might benefit most from RSV immunoprophylaxis," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

BMI Cutoff of 30 for Obesity May Be Too High for Middle-Aged, Older Adults

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- The optimal body mass index (BMI) cutoff point appears to be 27 kg/m2 for detecting obesity in middle-aged and older adults, according to a study presented...

Emergency Inguinal Hernia Surgery Rates Increased With Lower Country Income

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- For patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery, emergency surgery rates increase from high- to low-income countries, according to a study published online...

Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Levels Higher in Black Than White Women

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels are higher in Black than White pregnant women, supporting the use of accounting for these differences in...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.