May 24, 2024- Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center presented data on a tool that may help predict newborn’s risk for developing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), according to Vanderbilt Medical Center and Becker’s Hospital Review. The online prediction tool studied more than 400,000 infants, 713 of whom had been diagnosed with severe cases of RSV in their lower respiratory tracts. The study revealed that the tool showed good predictive accuracy of RSV in young children.
RSV causes more than 80,000 hospitalizations in children under 5 each year according to the Centers for Disease Control. Once the tool is tested further, it could help some families overcome vaccine worries and hesitancy.