Bridget Huynh

ISM 6th
Bylsma, Lauren C, et al. “Mortality Among US Infants and Children Under 5 Years of Age with

Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Bronchiolitis: A Systematic Literature Review.” U.S.

National Library of Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 Aug. 2022,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9377034/.

 The article exhibits a systematic literature review was conducted to summarize the
mortality of US infants and children under the age of 5 with respiratory syncytial viruses
(RSV) or all-cause bronchiolitis (ACB) and evaluated the subjects based on the disease
severity factors.
 42 studies included 36 evaluated inpatient deaths and 10 nationally representative
populations in 2013. However, 2 of the studies included late preterm or full-term healthy
infants and children.
 Out of the studies, marginally none described mortality rates resulting from RSVs, but 3
studies provided mortality rates (.57-9.4 children per 100,000 children).
 RSV mortality rates among US infants and children are reported and found to be variable.
 Nationally represented estimates for healthy, late preterm to full-term infants and children
are not variable or covered in these studies.
 RSVs represented a large and substantial health concern to parents regarding children
aged under 5 years old.
 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the US
approximately 40,000 infants are hospitalized due to RSVs annually. However, majority
of these children hospitalized with RSVs do not die from contracting the disease.
 Routine testing for RSV is not recommended in the US, despite the concerns about them
growing and becoming more aware.
 The true number of RSV cases among infants and children are likely to be
underestimated, uncertain, or inaccurate as the lack of testing and awareness of the virus
creates opportunities for the virus to go unnoticed or undocumented.
 Although varied across many sources and published literature, according to the CDC
study from 1976 to 1998’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), mortality data
estimates US infants aged less than 1-year ranges from 3.1 to 5.4 deaths per 100,000
persons.
 According to the SLR (Systematic Literature Review) displayed in this article, among all
US infants and children aged under 5 years, many contracted RSV or ACB, but mortality
rates are relatively low, especially in comparison to previous years.
 Across the literature and studies covered, there is a risk of bias in individual studies in
studies evaluated using modified versions of the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) for
cohort and case-control studies.

This source included information and studies about the risk of respiratory syncytial viruses
and bronchiolitis in children and infants under 5 years old. This article displays the importance of
understanding the modern morality risk when contracting these illnesses, as well as the dangers
of undermining them. This overview can be used for a basic generalize US morality in pediatrics.