An epidemiological study of RSV infection in the Gambia

To describe the epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in a developing country. The work was carried out in three hospitals for primary cases and in the community for secondary cases in the western region of the Gambia, West Africa. RSV infection was diagnosed by immunofluoresce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Bulletin of the World Health Organization Vol. 80; no. 7; pp. 562 - 568
Main Authors:	WEBER, Martin W, MILLIGAN, Paul, MULHOLLAND, E. Kim, GREENWOOD, Brian M, SANNEH, Mariama, AWEMOYI, Agnes, DAKOUR, Raduwan, SCHNEIDER, Gisela, PALMER, Ayo, JALLOW, Mariatou, OPARAOGU, Anslem, WHITTLE, Hilton
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Genève Organisation mondiale de la santé 01-01-2002 World Health Organization The World Health Organization
Subjects:	Age Distribution Analysis Anoxemia Biological and medical sciences Children & youth Demographic aspects Developing Countries Epidemiologic factors Epidemiologic Studies Epidemiology Female Fluorescent Antibody Technique Gambia Gambia - epidemiology Health Policy & Services Health services accessibility Hospitals Hospitals, Pediatric Hospitals, Rural Hospitals, Urban Households Human viral diseases Humans Illnesses Incidence Infant Infant, Newborn Infections Infectious diseases Laboratories LDCs Male Measles Medical research Medical sciences Morbidity Patient admission Patient Admission - statistics & numerical data Patient admissions Population Surveillance Prevalence Prevalence studies (Epidemiology) Respiratory diseases Respiratory syncytial virus Respiratory syncytial virus infection Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections - epidemiology Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections - etiology Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections - prevention & control Respiratory syncytial virus, Human/pathogenicity Respiratory tract infections/etiology Risk Factors Seasons Surveillance Tropical medicine Viral diseases Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases Gambia Africa Human Hospital admission Mortality Retroviridae Developing countries Spumavirinae Epidemiology Morbidity Infection Virus Human syncytial virus Viral disease Child Public health Sarampión Epidemiologic studies Health services accessibility Respiratory tract infections Ménages Voies aériennes supérieures, Infection Etude analytique (Epidémiologie) Gambia Measles Gambie Infecciones del tracto respiratorio Facteurs épidémiologiques Factores epidemiológicos Hôpital Admisión del paciente Rougeole Households Virus syncytial respiratoire humain Epidemiologic factors Accesibilidad a los servicios de salud Virus syncytial respiratoire, Infection Respiratory syncytial virus, Human Estudios epidemiológicos Respiratory syncytial virus infections Hospitals Admission malade Anoxemia Patient admission Virus sincitial respiratorio humano Hospitales Accessibilité service santé Infecciones por virus sincitial respiratorio Hogares Anoxémie
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Summary:	To describe the epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in a developing country. The work was carried out in three hospitals for primary cases and in the community for secondary cases in the western region of the Gambia, West Africa. RSV infection was diagnosed by immunofluorescence of nasopharyngeal aspirate samples in children younger than two years admitted to hospital with acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI). Routine records of all children with ALRI were analysed, and the incidence rates of ALRI, severe RSV-associated respiratory illness and hypoxaemic RSV infections were compared. A community-based study was undertaken to identify secondary cases and to obtain information about spread of the virus. 4799 children with ALRI who were younger than two years and lived in the study area were admitted to the study hospitals: 421 had severe RSV-associated respiratory illness; 55 of these were hypoxaemic. Between 1994 and 1996, the observed incidence rate for ALRI in 100 children younger than one year living close to hospital was 9.6 cases per year; for severe RSV-associated respiratory illness 0.83; and for hypoxaemic RSV-associated respiratory illness 0.089. The proportion of all ALRI admissions due to RSV was 19%. Overall, 41% of children younger than five years in compounds in which cases lived and 42% in control compounds had evidence of RSV infection during the surveillance period. RSV is an important cause of ALRI leading to hospital admission in the Gambia. Morbidity is considerable and efforts at prevention are worthwhile.
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ISSN:	0042-9686 1564-0604
DOI:	10.1590/S0042-96862002000700008