Respiratory Syncytial Virus Surveillance in Cote d¡¯Ivoire, 2016?2019 and 2022?2023

What to know

  • Presentation Day/Time: Thursday, April 24, 9:00–10:25 am
  • Presenter: Jordan Singleton, MD, EIS officer assigned to the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division

What did we do?

  • Surveillance for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was introduced in Côte d'Ivoire beginning in 2016. We aimed to describe percent-RSV-positivity among patients with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI – fever, cough, onset within the last 10 days, and requiring hospitalization) by age group and across time periods.

What did we find?

  • Among the 6,324 enrolled SARI patients, 2,663 (42.1%) were excluded due to delayed or improper specimen processing.
  • RSV positivity rates by age group were 18.9% for 0−2 months, 17.7% for 3−5 months, 9.9% for 6−11 months, 7.8% for 12−23 months, 9.3% for 24−59 months, 1.4% for 5−14 years, 2.6% for 15−49 years, and 3.1% for 50 years old or older.
  • Following the expanded case definition (2022−2023), RSV positivity remained stable in age groups under 2 years compared to 2016−2019, but decreased for age groups ≥ 2 years.

Why does it matter?

  • RSV is a notable cause of SARI in Côte d'Ivoire among the youngest age groups. These data provide insight to RSV epidemiology in a lower-and-middle-income country and establish a baseline for future vaccine impact assessments.
  • Furthermore, rates remained similar in the age groups with the highest RSV positivity despite expanding SARI case definitions.

Abstract Category: Global Health, RSV