Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Infection in Preterm Infants and Later Onset of Asthma

Abstract

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)-hospitalizations have a substantial disease burden during an infant’s first year of life, and long-term consequences such as asthma remain unclear. This study aimed to quantify the incidence rates of RSV-hospitalization in the first year life and asthma during our 5-year individual follow-up, and evaluate the association between asthma and preceding RSV-hospitalization among preterm infants. A retrospective cohort was constructed from population-based databases in Nova Scotia. RSV-hospitalization and potential risk factors were entered into regression models to evaluate their effect on asthma development. In our final cohort of 3,916 prematurely born infants, the incidence rate of RSV-hospitalization was 25/1000 infants. The cumulative incidence rate of asthma in our cohort was 3.7%. Our Cox PH regression model yielded a HR of 1.58 (1.03-2.41). Our Cox PH results support an association between RSV-hospitalization and asthma in preterm infants.