Investigators: Dr Hannah Moore, Amanuel Gebremedhin
External collaborators: Dr Alexandra Hogan, A/Prof Katie Glass
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children globally, causing 3.2 million hospitalisation episodes every year. We have previously assembled a linked dataset of perinatal, hospital, emergency department and routine laboratory data relating to 470,000 children to examine respiratory infections. As RSV is not a notifiable infection, these population-based datasets of laboratory-proven RSV disease, particularly negative test results, are globally unique.
Our research using these data show that 10% of children aged 0-16 years who are hospitalised for any reason are tested for RSV. Additionally, just over half (54%) of children who are hospitalised for a respiratory infection do not undergo a microbiological test to identify the virus or bacteria that is causing their respiratory infection. Therefore, our current estimates of RSV-positive hospitalisation rates underestimate the true burden of disease as many more children who are hospitalised are likely to have RSV but they are not being tested for it.
Currently, there is no vaccine against RSV, however the World Health Organisation has listed RSV prevention through vaccination a top global priority. This project aims to increase our understanding of RSV in young children in Western Australia by predicting the true burden of RSV taking into account the under-ascertainment fraction from laboratory testing as well as assessing the impact of various RSV vaccination strategies through mathematical models.