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URochester Medicine / Center for Community Health & Prevention / Surveillance & Prevention / Emerging Infections Program / Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

Purpose

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a respiratory virus that causes cold-like symptoms that can be severe in the very young and the elderly. Both a maternal RSV vaccine and nirsevimab, a long-acting monoclonal antibody given to infants, are now available to help prevent severe illness and hospitalization from RSV. Surveillance for RSV is conducted among hospitalized persons in Monroe County to estimate age-specific RSV hospitalization rates and describe age-specific RSV mortality.

Goals and Objectives

  • Describe characteristics of patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed RSV.
  • Estimate proportion of severe RSV-associated outcomes including secondary bacterial infection and admission to the intensive care unit among hospitalized patients.
  • Assess risk factors for RSV-associated complications among hospitalized patients.

Activities

Surveillance for RSV in Monroe County began in 2017 with retrospective data collected back to 2014. Surveillance is conducted year-round and in 2023, was expanded to residents of the seven county Rochester catchment area. A case is defined as a resident in the catchment area having a hospital admission with a laboratory confirmed RSV infection. RSV-Net data are used to generate national estimates of the total numbers of RSV cases and hospitalizations and evaluate prevention products. 

Comprehensive and aggregate data analyses for this project are ongoing and available at the following resources: 

Data

The incidence of RSV hospitalization varies by season and by age group. 

The graph below shows the incidence of RSV-associated hospitalizations from the 2018-2019 viral respiratory illness season to the latest season (2025-2026). The data are broken down by age groups, with each bar representing a different age group, to show how RSV incidence varies by age. Typically, incidence is highest among persons aged 0 to 4 years old. During the 2025-2026 season, incidence was highest among those 85 years and older, potentially due to the introduction of RSV prevention products for infants and pregnant women.

The graph shows the incidence of RSV-associated hospitalizations from the 2018-2019 viral respiratory illness season to the latest season (2025-2026). The data are broken down by age groups, with each bar representing a different age group, to show how RSV incidence varies by age. Typically, incidence is highest among persons aged 0 to 4 years old. During the 2025-2026 season, incidence was highest among those 85 years and older, potentially due to the introduction of RSV prevention products for infants and pregnant women.


7-County RSV Season Report

View the latest data for Monroe, Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans, Wayne and Yates Counties on the RocHealthData dashboard. Get an in-depth and interactive look at the details, including number of cases, rates by age group, and more.

2024-2025 RESP-Net Season Recap Newsletter

To see what the RESP-Net team accomplished during the 2024-2025 season, check out the 2024-2025 RESP-Net Season Recap Newsletter, which is packed with this past season’s data summaries, publications, and more.

Publications

Woodruff RC, Melgar M, Pham H, Sperling LS, Loustalot F, Kirley PD, Austin E, Yousey-Hindes K, Openo KP, Ryan P, Brown C, Lynfield R, Davis SS, Barney G, Tesini B, Sutton M, Talbot HK, Zahid H, Kim L, Havers FP; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RSV-NET). Acute Cardiac Events in Hospitalized Older Adults With Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection. JAMA Intern Med. 2024 Jun 1;184(6):602-611. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.0212. PMID: 38619857; PMCID: PMC11019447.

Havers FP, Whitaker M, Melgar M, Chatwani B, Chai SJ, Alden NB, Meek J, Openo KP, Ryan PA, Kim S, Lynfield R, Shaw YP, Barney G, Tesini BL, Sutton M, Talbot HK, Olsen KP, Patton ME; RSV-NET Surveillance Team. Characteristics and Outcomes Among Adults Aged ≥60 Years Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed Respiratory Syncytial Virus - RSV-NET, 12 States, July 2022-June 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2023 Oct 6;72(40):1075-1082. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7240a1. PMID: 37796742; PMCID: PMC10564327.

Kujawski SA, Whitaker M, Ritchey MD, Reingold AL, Chai SJ, Anderson EJ, Openo KP, Monroe M, Ryan P, Bye E, Como-Sabetti K, Barney GR, Muse A, Bennett NM, Felsen CB, Thomas A, Crawford C, Talbot HK, Schaffner W, Gerber SI, Langley GE, Kim L. Rates of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated hospitalization among adults with congestive heart failure-United States, 2015-2017. PLoS One. 2022 Mar 9;17(3):e0264890. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264890. PMID: 35263382; PMCID: PMC8906631.

Holmen JE, Kim L, Cikesh B, Kirley PD, Chai SJ, Bennett NM, Felsen CB, Ryan P, Monroe M, Anderson EJ, Openo KP, Como-Sabetti K, Bye E, Talbot HK, Schaffner W, Muse A, Barney GR, Whitaker M, Ahern J, Rowe C, Langley G, Reingold A. Relationship between neighborhood census-tract level socioeconomic status and respiratory syncytial virus-associated hospitalizations in U.S. adults, 2015-2017. BMC Infect Dis. 2021 Mar 23;21(1):293. doi: 10.1186/s12879-021-05989-w. PMID: 33757443; PMCID: PMC7986301.