- Overall, the rate of hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses remained stable throughout August 2024, with no change compared to July 2024.
- For infants and children aged 0-4 years old, respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations increased significantly by 40.6% throughout August 2024. This rise was primarily driven by increases in rhinovirus-associated hospitalizations, which rose by 80.9%.
- The population aged 65 and over saw a slight decrease of 4.7% in hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses in August 2024 compared to July 2024.
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. As the respiratory season starts in October (and runs through the following September, as defined by the US Centers for Disease Control), monitoring these viruses early 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 March 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 August 2024 on MedRxiv.
Key findings: Trends in respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations
Using a subset of Truveta Data, we identified 642,821 hospitalizations of 592,200 unique patients who tested positive for a respiratory virus between October 01, 2019 and August 25, 2024.
Overall population trends
Overall, the rate of hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses remained stable throughout August 2024, with no change compared to July 2024. In the last week of August 2024, respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations accounted for 2.5% of all hospitalizations.
Specifically, COVID-associated hospitalizations saw a slight decrease of 2.9%, while influenza-associated hospitalizations dropped significantly by 57.4%. Other respiratory viruses, including HMPV and RSV, reported no hospitalizations during this period, although rhinovirus-associated hospitalizations increased by 61.7%.
Infants and children (age 0-4)
For infants and children aged 0-4 years old, respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations increased significantly by 40.6% throughout August 2024. This rise was primarily driven by increases in rhinovirus-associated hospitalizations, which rose by 80.9%.
In the last week of August, 2.4% of all hospitalizations in this age group were associated with a respiratory virus, with rhinovirus being the largest contributor at 1.8%.
Older adults (age 65 and over)
The population aged 65 and over saw a slight decrease of 4.7% in hospitalizations associated with respiratory viruses in August 2024 compared to July 2024.
COVID-associated hospitalizations remained stable, while influenza-associated hospitalizations saw a significant decline of 62.9%.
In the last week of August, respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations accounted for 3.4% of all hospitalizations in this age group, with COVID remaining a consistent contributor.
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 throughout this 2024-2025 respiratory virus season (October 2024 through September 2025).