Table 2.

Summary of key studies reporting on the burden of RSV in Latin America

Country; Ref.	Study type (study period)	Patient population	Key findings	Gaps
Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, and Guatemala; Ali et al. [9]	Systematic literature review (2011–2017)	Patients aged ≥ 18 years	Eighteen articles from six Latin American countries were identified	RSV data in adult populations are lacking in Latin America
			High or moderate risk of bias was reported for 9/18 articles	Further data among adults with RSV in Latin America are necessary to further understand the burden of RSV
			Rates of RSV detection varied highly among adults with respiratory infections (0–77.9%), influenza-like illness (1.0–16.4%), and community-acquired pneumonia (1.3–13.5%)
			RSV-infected adults accounted for high proportions of patients hospitalized with ILI (40.9–69.9%) in Mexico and CAP (91.7%) in Guatemala
Mexico; Gamiño-Arroyo et al. [30]	Prospective cohort (2010–2014)	Patients aged ≥ 1 month who presented with an ILI	A substantial number of RSV cases (n = 171) were identified among adults across six hospitals	The study was limited to ILI case definitions; therefore, not all patients with RTIs were eligible for inclusion
			Older adults accounted for high proportions, and increasing age was associated with significantly higher risk, of RSV-associated hospitalization
Mexico; Galindo-Fraga et al. [32]	Observational cohort (2010–2011)	Patients aged > 3 months who presented with an ILI	Hospitalization was required for a higher proportion of patients with RSV (56%) than for influenza (29%) and COVID-19 (32%)	Data were limited to patients with clinical manifestation of ILIs
			Of the hospitalized patients aged ≥ 60 years, those with RSV infection had a mortality rate > 10%
Mexico; Noyola et al. [80]	Prospective observational cohort (2010–2014)	Patients infected with one or two viruses	Patients with RSV required hospitalization more often than reported for coronavirus, rhinovirus, parainfluenza virus, adenovirus, and human metapneumovirus, as well as when compared with coinfections of RSV and parainfluenza or coronavirus	Limited insight on the overall severity of infection between viruses and the role of comorbidities
Brazil; Estofolete et al. [28]	Retrospective surveillance cohort (2021–2022)	Patients aged ≥ 15 years	Mean age of patients infected with RSV was significantly higher compared with influenza (59.2 versus 39.4 years)	Data on the clinical impact of RSV in the general adult population, not just those at risk, are needed
			Comorbidities were present in 79.6% of patients with RSV, significantly higher than those with influenza (47.4%)
			Ventilatory support was required for 26.1% of RSV-infected patients, with symptoms of dyspnea and respiratory distress reported in 42.1% and 31.6% of RSV-infected patients, respectively
Guatemala; McCracken et al. [58]	Prospective surveillance cohort (2007–2012)	Hospitalized patients with ARIs and RSV test results (no age restriction)	RSV infections were reported in 24% of 6287 hospitalizations and 12% of 2565 clinic visits for ARIs, with 6% and 5% of patients aged ≥ 50 years, respectively	Data were only collected from three regions of Guatemala, which may be limited by the article’s case definition in the outpatient setting
			The highest incidence of RSV among adults was reported in patients aged ≥ 65 years (2.9 cases/10,000 persons per year)
Chile; Luchsinger et al. [68]	Prospective cohort (2005–2007)	Patients aged ≥ 18 years with CAP	RSV was the most common viral pathogen identified among 356 adults with CAP	Data were collected from two hospitals in Santiago, Chile
			RSV infections among patients with CAP were predominant during May, June, and July	The impact of RSV infection on the clinical outcome of CAP requires further investigation

ARIs acute respiratory infections, CAP community-acquired pneumonia, ILI influenza-like illness, RSV respiratory syncytial virus, RTIs respiratory tract infections