Did you know? RSV infections in young children can increase the risk of developing chronic lung diseases like asthma or COPD later in life. The CLARITY Consortium consists of experts from across Europe to explore how RSV infections and genetic factors contribute to the link between infections and asthma development. Its mission is to uncover key risk factors, improve prevention, and identify new treatment targets that could transform the lives of millions.

Acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRIs) are a leading cause of pediatric mortality in low- and middle-income countries. In recent years, substantial research has been done to enhance risk stratification of children presenting with ALRIs, in a bid to improve health outcomes in resource-limited settings. We sought to analyze the performance of several pediatric ALRI risk scores in the prediction of mortality among children hospitalized with ALRIs in Kenya.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the data of 2182 children aged 2–24 months who were admitted to Kilifi County Referral Hospital, Kenya with severe ALRIs between January 2015 and December 2024. We evaluated the performance of 6 ALRI risk scores (RISC [HIV-negative], mRISC, RISC-Malawi, PERCH, PREPARE, and ReSVinet) in this population. Additionally, we created and evaluated a modified version of the ReSVinet score by including nutrition status. Discrimination was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).ResultsThe mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) version of the RISC-Malawi score showed the highest discrimination for the outcome of in-hospital mortality (AUROC, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, .79–.86), whilst all other scores showed acceptable discrimination (AUROC, 0.70–0.79). The modification of ReSVinet to include nutrition status significantly improved its AUROC from 0.72 to 0.79.ConclusionsAll risk scores showed at least fair performance in the prediction of in-hospital mortality within our dataset. The RISC-Malawi (MUAC) score appears to be the most promising candidate for future implementation; however, further research is needed to evaluate the calibration, feasibility, and clinical utility of these scores.

ReSViNET Foundation is the international leading non-profit organization committed to reducing the global burdens of RSV infection.

A GSK vai marcar presença na oitava Conferência ReSViNET, que terá lugar de 13 a 16 de fevereiro, em Mumbai, juntando-se aos maiores especialistas, investigadores e representantes de organizações...