The link between respiratory syncytial virus infection during infancy and asthma during childhood

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) 2023-05, Vol.401 (10389), p.1632-1633
• Main Authors: Billard, Marie-Noëlle, Bont, Louis J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Asthma; Asthma - epidemiology; Asthma - etiology; Bronchopneumonia; Charities; Children; Childrens health; Clinical trials; Cohort analysis; Environmental risk; Funding; Health care; Health care facilities; Hispanic people; Humans; Infant; Infections; Monoclonal antibodies; Morbidity; Observational studies; Public private partnerships; Respiratory Sounds; Respiratory syncytial virus; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections - complications; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections - epidemiology; Risk Factors; Surveillance; Viruses
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00672-4

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in infants.1 A 2022 birth cohort study estimated that 14% of healthy children born at term had an RSV infection that was medically attended and 1·8% were admitted to hospital for RSV in their first year of life.2 A 2015 study found approximately 10% of RSV infections were asymptomatic in children younger than 1 year, suggesting that total RSV incidence is high.3 Recurrent wheeze and childhood asthma have been associated with RSV bronchiolitis.4,5 Clinical trials that investigated if monoclonal antibodies against RSV decreased the risk of childhood asthma have been inconsistent so far.6–8 It remains unclear to what extent RSV increases the risk of childhood asthma, and to what extent shared genetic predisposition and environmental risk factors cause a subset of children to be at higher risk of severe RSV and childhood asthma. [...]long follow-up requires substantial resources, and it is unclear if companies would be interested in this commitment without public support. LJB has regular interaction with pharmaceutical and other industrial partners and has not received personal fees or other personal benefits; the University Medical Center Utrecht has received funding for investigator-initiated studies from AbbVie, MedImmune, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Janssen, Pfizer, MSD, and MeMed Diagnostics; major funding for the RSV GOLD study from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; major funding as part of the public–private partnership IMI-funded RESCEU and PROMISE projects with partners GSK, Novavax, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi; major funding by Julius Clinical for participating in clinical studies sponsored by MedImmune and Pfizer; and funding for consultation and invited lectures by AbbVie, MedImmune, Ablynx, Bavaria Nordic, MabXience, GSK, Novavax, Pfizer, Moderna, Astrazeneca, MSD, Sanofi, Genzyme, and Janssen.