Health Care Resource Use Associated With Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Infants and Young Children in Germany: Evidence From the PAPI Study

OBJECTIVES: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) worldwide, particularly in infants and young children. This study aims to quantify the health care resource use (HCRU) associated with additional primary care visits and parental work absenteeism related to RSV hospitalization of infants and young children in Germany.

METHODS: The PAPI study is a prospective, multicentric observational study conducted in Germany. In 12 study centers, infants and young children aged ≤24 months hospitalized with LRTI were PCR-tested for respiratory viruses from 2021 to 2023. Parents filled questionnaires at hospital admission (T0) and were phone-interviewed after 14 days (T14). If symptoms were present after 14 days, an additional interview was conducted after 28 days (T28). Information from questionnaires and phone interviews included additional visits to primary care facilities, and parental work absenteeism.

RESULTS: A total of 1607 infants and young children aged ≤24 months hospitalized with LRTI were tested, of which 57.1% (n=918) tested RSV-positive. For 714 cases data from questionnaires and phone interviews were available for T0 and T14. 91.3% (n=652) of RSV-hospitalizations were associated with additional primary care visits before or after the index hospitalization. In 63.0% (n=450) of RSV-hospitalization cases, parental absenteeism from work associated with the RSV infection was reported. Parents reported that in total they were unable to work on a mean 7.6 days (SD 6.3) due to their child’s RSV infection.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to investigate work loss associated with RSV hospitalizations of infants and young children in Germany. We found that RSV hospitalizations are associated with high additional health care resource use and parental work loss. Our data contribute to describe more accurately the overall RSV societal burden and to better inform decision-making regarding preventive interventions against RSV in Germany.