A retrospective study revealed that hospital admission rates were far higher for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) than for the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 or influenza A/B in children presenting at Swedish emergency departments (EDs) from August 2021 to September 2022.
Hospitalization rates were 81.7% for RSV, 31.5% for Omicron, and 27.7% for influenza, Pontus Hedberg, MD, PhD, and researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm reported. The results appeared in a JAMA Pediatricsopens in a new tab or window research letter.
“That RSV can be dangerous for both infants and young children is well-known, but the major differences in hospitalization rates observed for RSV compared with both SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and influenza A/B across all age groups were surprising,” Hedberg told MedPage Today by email.