Nearly 1 in 10 adults hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus infection died in the hospital or within 30 days of discharge, according to preliminary CDC data.
Researchers analyzed RSV hospitalization data from the CDC’s Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network, which tracks hospitalizations with lab-confirmed influenza, COVID-19 or RSV in 14 states and more than 300 hospitals. The analysis included 18,301 RSV hospitalizations among adults across eight seasons from 2014 to 2024.
Here are six findings:
1. Among hospitalized adults with RSV, about 4% died during hospitalization and about 4% died within 30 days of discharge.
2. The share of adults hospitalized with RSV who died was relatively stable across the eight seasons, ranging from a low of 7.4% in 2018-19 to a high of 9.7% in 2015-16.
3. About 81% of those who died were 65 and older, and about one-third were 85 or older. About 89% had at least one chronic condition, and about half had three or more.
4. Nearly 49% of those who died were admitted to the ICU during their hospital stay, and 29.1% underwent invasive mechanical ventilation.
5. Almost 2% of all hospitalizations ended in death within 30 days of discharge to hospice, and almost 3% ended in death within 30 days of discharge to a setting other than hospice. That second group, ranging from 1.8% in 2022-23 to 3.2% in 2019-20, is the most concerning because those patients likely weren’t expected to die, a CDC researcher said. Compared with patients who died in the hospital, more of those who died after discharge were 65 or older, and fewer had underlying conditions or needed intensive care.
6. Only about 10% of adults who died had RSV listed anywhere on their death certificate, compared with about 37% for influenza and 72% for COVID-19 in earlier CDC analyses.
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