RSV Hospitalization Correlates to Higher Risk of Cardiorespiratory Events, Research Finds

A team led by researchers from Pfizer reported an “elevated risk of cardiorespiratory events in adults for up to six months after RSV hospitalization.” CIDRAP has the news.

The investigators obtained data on 11,887 patients from a dataset on U.S. RSV hospitalizations and related outcomes from 2017 through March 2024. The aim was to “compare the incidence of cardiorespiratory events during the risk period (the six months after RSV hospitalization index date) and control periods (more than 21 days before or 180 days after the index date).” Participants had at least “one RSV hospital admission and one or more cardiorespiratory events.”

The most common cardiorespiratory event was “arrythmia (5,844 patients), followed by COPD exacerbation (5,018), CHF exacerbation (4,204), heart attack (2,421), and stroke (1,622). In the first 14 days after RSV hospitalization, risk was elevated for each cardiorespiratory event, with the highest estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) occurring in the initial seven days.”

IRR estimates were “significantly elevated for all outcomes except COPD exacerbation for as long as 42 days and attenuated with time. The risk stayed significantly elevated after RSV hospitalization for up to 63 days for heart attack (IRR, 1.8) and stroke (IRR, 1.8) and up to 84 days for CHF exacerbation (IRR, 1.5).” The researchers emphasized the need to “increase RSV vaccination in adults…noting that the [CDC] recommends RSV vaccination for adults aged 60 to 74 years at increased risk for severe illness (i.e. those with chronic cardiovascular or respiratory disease) and all people 75 years and older.”