Infants younger than six months bear the brunt of hospitalizations and associated costs from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Canada, according to new UBC Faculty of Medicine research that underscores the cost savings of protecting this vulnerable age group from serious lung infections.
The study, published in Lancet Regional Health – Americas, looked at more than 29,000 hospitalizations across Canada between 2017 and 2023. It found that babies under six months made up almost 45 per cent of all RSV-related hospital admissions and nearly 50 per cent of the total costs.
“This virus hits our youngest children the hardest,” said Dr. Nirma Khatri Vadlamudi, who led the study during her postdoctoral research at UBC’s Faculty of Medicine. “Even though RSV affects kids of all ages, the health and financial burden is most severe in infant cases.”
RSV is a leading cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children. While most kids catch RSV before age two, some get sick enough to need hospital care — especially babies born early or with other health issues. But the study found that over 80 per cent of hospitalized children had no known risk factors. Even healthy infants are vulnerable.
The researchers used data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and the Canadian Immunization Monitoring Program ACTive (IMPACT) to track hospital stays, ICU admissions and costs. They found that the average annual cost of RSV hospitalizations was $66 million, with $32 million spent on infants under six months.
“These numbers are eye-opening and really make a strong case for prioritizing the youngest group in our prevention efforts,” said Dr. Julie Bettinger, senior author and a professor in the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s department of pediatrics and investigator at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
