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Infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was long thought to cause severe respiratory infection (laryngotracheobronchitis or “croup”) only in very young children. In the 1980s, with the advent of nucleic acid–based diagnostic techniques, the virus was shown to commonly attack older persons in communities and chronic-care facilities.
To compare incidence, comorbidities, and sequelae associated with RSV versus influenza in an older population, investigators retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients ≥60 years of age who were enrolled with Kaiser Permanente Southern California during five winter seasons between 2011 and 2015.
During this period, 645 RSV patients and 1878 influenza patients were identified. Compared with inf…