TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 Lesson for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
T2 - Hygiene Works
AU - Gastaldi, Andrea
AU - Donà, Daniele
AU - Barbieri, Elisa
AU - Giaquinto, Carlo
AU - Bont, Louis J
AU - Baraldi, Eugenio
N1 - Funding Information:
All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship for this manuscript, take responsibility for the integrity of the work, and have given final approval for the version to be published. The authors thank Musakanya Chingandu for her help in editing the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/12/6
Y1 - 2021/12/6
N2 - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of acute lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in infants worldwide. The global direct medical cost associated with RSV LRTIs reaches billions of dollars, with the highest burden in low-middle-income countries. Many efforts have been devoted to improving its prevention and management, including both non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical strategies, often with limited routine use in high-income countries due to high costs. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a dramatic decrease in RSV infections (up to 70-90%) has been reported around the globe, directly related to the implementation of containment measures (face masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing). Primary prevention has demonstrated the highest cost effectiveness ratio in reducing the burden of a respiratory infection such as RSV, never reached before. Thus, we emphasize the importance of non-pharmaceutical preventive hygiene measures that should be implemented and maintained even after the COVID-19 outbreak.
AB - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of acute lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in infants worldwide. The global direct medical cost associated with RSV LRTIs reaches billions of dollars, with the highest burden in low-middle-income countries. Many efforts have been devoted to improving its prevention and management, including both non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical strategies, often with limited routine use in high-income countries due to high costs. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a dramatic decrease in RSV infections (up to 70-90%) has been reported around the globe, directly related to the implementation of containment measures (face masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing). Primary prevention has demonstrated the highest cost effectiveness ratio in reducing the burden of a respiratory infection such as RSV, never reached before. Thus, we emphasize the importance of non-pharmaceutical preventive hygiene measures that should be implemented and maintained even after the COVID-19 outbreak.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Children
KW - Hygiene
KW - Infant primary prevention
KW - Lower respiratory tract infection
KW - Respiratory syncytial virus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121790192&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/children8121144
DO - 10.3390/children8121144
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34943339
SN - 2227-9067
VL - 8
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Children (Basel, Switzerland)
JF - Children (Basel, Switzerland)
IS - 12
M1 - 1144
ER -