Investigation of respiratory syncytial virus-associated deaths among US children aged <2 years, 2004-2007

Abstract

We validated the respiratory syncytial virus-coded deaths of children aged <2 years in 2004-2007 using national/state death data and medical records. There were 48 deaths in 4 states, and hospital records for 32 of them were available; 26 of those 32 (81%) had a laboratory finding of respiratory syncytial virus, and 21 of those 26 (81%) had a potential high-risk condition, most commonly preterm birth (35%). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 2015. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.