- Overall, the rate of hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses has decreased throughout January 2024 (-35.3%) compared to December 2023. The largest decreases were seen in parainfluenza virus- (-49.0%), RSV- (-48.0%), and influenza-associated (-41.6%) hospitalizations.
- For infants and children (aged 0-4 years old), rhinovirus-associated hospitalizations were the only virus to increase over the last month, and rhinovirus now accounts for the largest percentage of hospitalizations in this population.
- For the older adult population (aged 65 years and older), respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations decreased by 34.9%. COVID remained the largest contributor with 3.8% of all hospitalizations associated with COVID-19 in the older adult population.
Few sources regularly monitor hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses. Truveta Research has created a monthly respiratory virus monitoring report to supplement the surveillance data provided by the CDC by describing weekly trends in the rate of hospitalizations overall and for each of the six most common respiratory viruses: COVID-19, influenza, human metapneumovirus (HMPV), parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rhinovirus. This information can inform decisions about public health, clinical care, and public policy.
Because Truveta Data provides the most complete, timely, and clean de-identified EHR data, including full patient medical records, notes, and images, linked with claims, SDOH, and mortality data for more than 100 million patients across the US, we can show the latest trends in these respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations, including valuable insight into two at-risk populations: infants and children (age 0-4 years old) and older adults (age 65 and over).
This blog provides a snapshot of the key findings with data through January 2024 in the report specific to the overall population across all respiratory viruses, as well as for two high-risk populations: infants and children (age 0-4 years old) and older adults (age 65 and older). For the full analysis – inclusive of demographics, comorbidities, and overall trends in virus-associated hospitalizations across all age groups for each virus – see the complete monitoring report with data through January 2024 on MedRxiv.
Key findings: Trends in respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations
Using a subset of real-world electronic health record (EHR) data from Truveta, a growing collective of health systems that provide more than 18% of all daily clinical care in the US, we identified 491,342 hospitalizations of 456,820 unique patients who tested positive for a respiratory virus between October 01, 2019 and February 4, 2024.
Overall population trends
Overall, the rate of hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses decreased throughout January 2024 (-35.3%) compared to December 2023. The largest decreases were seen in parainfluenza virus- (-49.0%), RSV- (-48.0%), and influenza-associated (-41.6%) hospitalizations.
Infants and children (age 0-4)
For the population between 0-4 years old, rhinovirus-associated hospitalizations were the only virus to increase over the last month and now accounts for the largest percentage of hospitalizations in this population (even greater than RSV-associated hospitalizations).
Older adults (age 65 and over)
In the older adult population (individuals over 65 years of age), respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations decreased by 39.4%. For those who experienced a respiratory virus-associated hospitalization, COVID remained the largest contributor; 3.8% of all hospitalizations were associated with COVID in the older adult population.
Discussion
It is important for public health experts and clinical providers to understand the trends in these infections to inform decisions about public health, clinical care, and public policy. Connecting population-level trends with granular clinical information available in Truveta Studio can be very useful to understand which populations are most impacted and may require additional support.
We will continue to monitor respiratory virus-associated hospitalization overall and for at-risk populations.
These reports are updated monthly, so you can read the latest full respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations report on MedRxiv.