Quantifying the RSV immunity debt following COVID-19: a public health matter

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infection in children younger than 5 years. In 2019, a meta-analysis estimated that RSV was associated with 33 million acute lower respiratory infection episodes and 3·6 million hospitalisations for acute lower respiratory infection annually.1 In England alone, an average of 33 561 annual RSV-associated hospitalisations were observed between 2007 and 2012.2 Before the COVID-19 pandemic, RSV was highly seasonal in temperate countries like England.