title: Epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus infection among paediatric patients in Hong Kong: seasonality and disease impact.
abstract: In a 5-year retrospective survey of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections among hospitalized children, 1340 cases were identified of which, 98.4% were children < 5 years old with a male:female ratio of 1.5: 1. Most cases occurred from April to September showing a significant positive correlation with temperature and relative humidity. Community-acquired infections accounted for 92.5% of the cases with a mean hospital stay of 5 days. The estimated annual incidence of RSV infection requiring hospitalization was 2.5/1000 children < 5 years old with a mortality of 0.15% among hospitalized cases. On average, 248 children were admitted each year to the 1400-bed acute regional hospital accounting for an expenditure of HK S1.94 ((approximately US +/-0.25) million for hospitalization costs which equates to an annual cost in excess of HK $6.67 (approximately US $0.86) million for the whole of Hong Kong. An RSV vaccine should be a priority.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, NT.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: R Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Chik
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Adeyemi-Doro
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014887:Weather