Inpatient burden of respiratory syncytial virus in children ≤2 years of age in Germany: A retrospective analysis of nationwide hospitalization data, 2019–2022

BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes respiratory tract disease in seasonal waves, primarily in infants and young children. This study aims to quantify the number of RSV‐related hospitalizations in children ≤2 years of age and to determine corresponding resource use and costs in Germany. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed population‐wide hospital data from the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) from 2019 to 2022. RSV cases were identified using the RSV‐specific 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD‐10) codes J12.1, J20.5, and J21.0. The RSV‐associated proportion of all hospitalizations caused by severe acute respiratory infections (SARIs), clinical manifestations, length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, ventilation rates, and hospitalization costs were retrieved. RESULTS: We identified 98,220 hospitalizations (26,052, 15,407, 31,362, and 25,399 in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively) with a principal RSV diagnosis in children aged ≤2 years in Germany. The majority of RSV hospitalizations (73,178) occurred in infants (<1 year), with annual incidence rates ranging from 14.9 to 28.6 per 1000 population. Fifty‐eight percent of all SARI hospitalizations in this age group were attributable to RSV. In children aged ≤2 years, mean LOS was 4.5 days, 6.1% of cases were admitted to ICU, and 5.3% of cases were ventilated. Mean hospitalization costs per case ranged from €3001 to €3961 over the study period. CONCLUSIONS: RSV causes substantial disease burden and is a leading cause of SARI‐related hospital admissions of children ≤2 years of age in Germany. Our results confirm the need to explore and evaluate strategies to prevent RSV in infants and young children.