More than 100,000 older adults are hospitalized on average yearly in the United States with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), as are 58,000 or more infants and young children under the age of 5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC says 6,000 or more older adults and 100 or more young children die annually of RSV.
Yet public worry about contracting RSV has dropped significantly in the past year, though not worry about contracting COVID-19 or the seasonal flu, according to a new Annenberg Public Policy Center health survey conducted in September 2024.
The survey finds that 1 in 4 people (26%) surveyed are worried about getting or having a family member get RSV over the next three months, significantly less than 1 in 3 (35%) who were worried in October 2023, at the onset of last year's RSV season. By contrast, 33% are worried about getting or having a member get COVID-19 in the next three months, and 37% are worried about the flu, neither one significantly changed from October 2023.
"It is possible that memories of last year's winter holiday surge in respiratory illnesses and of the 2022–23 'tripledemic' of COVID-19, flu, and RSV respiratory viruses have faded," says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania and director of the survey.
The findings come from APPC's latest nationally representative Annenberg Science and Public Health Knowledge (ASAPH) survey, conducted with a panel of more than 1,700 U.S. adults in September 2024.
According to the CDC, RSV is very common and usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Most infections go away on their own, so most people are unaware that they have had an RSV infection. But RSV can be more severe, especially for babies, some young children, and older adults. In fact, RSV hospitalizes 100,000 to 200,000 Americans each year. Increasing awareness and immunization rates among these populations have the potential to dramatically reduce hospitalizations.
RSV vaccines for older adults entered the U.S. market in May 2023. A year later, in June 2024, the CDC updated recommendations to protect older adults at the greatest risk for severe RSV, saying that everyone 75 and older should receive a single dose of the vaccine and those 60 to 74 years old who are at increased risk should as well. New CDC evidence finds that older adults getting vaccinated against RSV reduces hospitalization with severe illness.
In the summer of 2023, two immunization options to protect infants from severe RSV also became available. In August 2023, the CDC recommended an RSV vaccine for pregnant individuals to be given during weeks 32 to 36 of pregnancy to protect their babies born during the RSV season.
The CDC also recommended an injection to be administered to infants 8 months and younger, providing an additional option for protecting very young children. Most babies do not need both.
These options protect very young infants from severe RSV, the primary reason children that young are hospitalized. Child hospitalization rates from RSV are the highest for those six months and younger, with a peak at one month old.
"We are seeing increased awareness of RSV vaccines to protect the very young," says Laura A. Gibson, the senior data analyst at APPC who analyzed the RSV data. "If this translates into increased immunization rates, we could reduce their hospitalization rates."
Nearly half of those surveyed (46%) in September 2024 know that there is a Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine against RSV for those who are pregnant to benefit their newborns, while 4% say there is no such vaccine.
This is a significant increase in awareness of the vaccine from 12% in August 2023, when the survey was last fielded and just as the RSV vaccine for pregnant people was approved by the FDA. There was also a corresponding decrease in the proportion who were unsure from 70% in August 2023 to 50% in September 2024.
To maximize protection during the fall and winter RSV season, the CDC recommends that pregnant people get the RSV vaccine between September and January if weeks 32–36 of their pregnancy fall during that time. Protection for their infant will last for approximately six months after birth. If parents choose the RSV antibody for infants less than eight months old, that should be administered between October and March and will last at least five months after immunization.
For older adults, the CDC recommends all adults 75 years and older get an RSV vaccine. Adults 60–74 years old should get vaccinated against RSV if they are at increased risk of severe RSV. Some conditions that increase risk include living in a nursing home or having a weakened immune system.
This is an update as of June 26, 2024 from the previous CDC RSV recommendations for older adults (which was for adults 60 years and older to get the RSV vaccine after consulting with their health care providers). For maximum protection during the fall and winter RSV season, older adults should be vaccinated between August and October.
The survey on RSV and the vaccines found about half of respondents support RSV preventives:
Only small segments of the American public correctly answer questions about RSV. Most people say they are not sure. The survey found that:
Less than half recognize the symptoms for infants
Less than half of those surveyed recognized some of the most common symptoms of RSV in an infant (respondents were asked to select all that applied):
Very few people incorrectly selected non-respiratory symptoms as associated with RSV (these are not symptoms of RSV):
The survey data come from the 21st wave of a nationally representative panel of 1,744 U.S. adults conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center by SSRS, an independent market research company. Most have been empaneled since April 2021. To account for attrition, small replenishment samples have been added over time using a random probability sampling design.
The most recent replenishment, in September 2024, added 360 respondents to the sample. This wave of the Annenberg Science and Public Health Knowledge (ASAPH) survey was fielded Sept. 13–22 and Sept. 26–30, 2024. The margin of sampling error (MOE) is ± 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All figures are rounded to the nearest whole number and may not add to 100%. Combined subcategories may not add to totals in the topline and text due to rounding.
The policy center has been tracking the American public's knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors regarding vaccination, COVID-19, flu, RSV, and other consequential health issues through this survey panel over the past two-and-a-half years.
In addition to Jamieson and Gibson, APPC's team on the survey includes research analyst Shawn Patterson Jr., Patrick E. Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute, and Ken Winneg, managing director of survey research.
Citation: Survery: Public worry about RSV has faded, unlike flu and COVID-19 (2024, October 15) retrieved 15 October 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-survery-rsv-flu-covid.html
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