Table 2. Characteristics of hospitalised RSV cases aged < 5 years by season, ICOSARI surveillance data, Germany, 2013–2023 (n = 13,104).
| Variable | Pre-COVID-19 RSV seasons (2013/14–2019/20) |
RSV season 2021 |
Comparison pre-COVID-19 and 2021 season p value |
RSV season 2022/23 |
Comparison pre-COVID-19 and 2021/22 season p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of hospitalised cases with RSV diagnosis | 1,159a
(male 56%, female 44%) |
2,577 (male 59%, female 41%) |
NA | 2,413 (male 57%, female 43%) |
NA |
| Cumulative RSV hospitalisation incidence per 100,000 | 584b
(95% CI: 554–616) |
1,114 (95% CI: 1,072–1,158) |
< 0.001c | 1,034 (95% CI: 993–1,076) |
< 0.001c |
| Proportion of RSV diagnoses among SARI cases | 31.5% (8,114/25,757) (95% CI: 30.9–32.1) |
60.0% (2,577/4,295) (95% CI: 58.5–61.5) |
< 0.001c | 52.1% (2,413/4,631) (95% CI: 50.7–53.6) |
< 0.001c |
| Proportion of ICU admission among hospitalised RSV cases | 6.8% (551/8,114) (95% CI: 6.3–7.4) |
5.2% (135/2,577) (95% CI: 4.4–6.2) |
0.005c | 8.5% (206/2,413) (95% CI: 7.5–9.7) |
0.004c |
| Proportion of ventilation among hospitalised RSV cases | 3.8% (310/8,114) (95% CI: 3.4–4.3) |
3.8% (98/2,577) (95% CI: 3.1–4.6) |
0.967c | 6.1% (146/2,413) (95% CI: 5.1–7.1) |
< 0.001c |
| Proportion of deaths among hospitalised RSV cases | 0.06% (5/8,114) (95% CI: 0.03–0.1) |
0 | 0.208c | 0.08% (2/2,413) (95% CI: 0.01–0.3) |
0.723c |
| Median length of hospital stay among hospitalised RSV cases | 4 days (IQR: 3–6) |
3 days (IQR: 2–5) |
< 0.001d | 4 days (IQR: 2–6) |
< 0.001d |
| Median length of ICU stay among ICU admitted RSV cases | 5 days (IQR: 3–8) |
5 days (IQR: 3–7) |
0.183d | 4 days (IQR: 2–7) |
0.005d |
| Median ventilation length among ventilated RSV cases | 98 hours (IQR: 53–157) |
100 hours (IQR: 60–128) |
0.504d | 96 hours (IQR: 57–144) |
0.765d |
ICU: intensive care unit; IQR: interquartile range; NA: not applicable; RSV: respiratory syncytial virus; SARI: severe acute respiratory infection; 95% CI: 95% confidence interval.
a Mean of hospitalised RSV cases.
b Mean cumulative RSV hospitalisation incidence only for RSV seasons 2014/15–2019/20.
c Chi-squared test.
d Mann–Whitney U test.