BACKGROUND
Respiratory viruses cause significant morbidity and mortality in adults, especially among frail older adults and those with chronic comorbid conditions [1, 2]. While the burden of influenza viruses is best studied, non-influenza viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV), human coronaviruses (CoV), adenoviruses (AV), and parainfluenza viruses (PIV) are responsible for a substantial burden of illness in adults [3-6].
However, the population-based incidence and burden of community-onset non-influenza respiratory viruses associated with hospitalization in adults have not been systematically assessed. Previous approaches have utilized weekly laboratory-surveillance and syndromic surveillance associated with discharge data in statistical models to estimate rates of hospitalization and mortality associated with respiratory viruses [4, 7, 8]. Yet, these methods may lack precision as specific viruses associated with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are not routinely laboratory-confirmed nor consistently reported in discharge records. Thus, the aims of this study were to estimate the population-based incidence of different laboratory-confirmed respiratory viruses in hospitalized adults and to describe the disease burden associated with different viruses measured by hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and in-hospital mortality. These parameters were compared in patients with influenza versus patients with non-influenza respiratory viruses in efforts to provide an enhanced understanding of the overall disease burden from respiratory viruses and better inform resource utilization for hospitals and highlight the value of preventative strategies, including vaccines.