{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T17:14:13Z","timestamp":1772471653670,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772236800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of hospitalization among infants and young children. The clinical course of RSV infection varies considerably depending on age and selected clinical factors. The objective of this study was to identify demographic and clinical variables associated with the course of hospitalization in children admitted due to laboratory-confirmed RSV infection. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted based on the medical records of 100 immunocompetent pediatric patients hospitalized due to RSV infection in the Department of Pediatrics of Hospital in Wadowice, Poland, between December 2021 and April 2023. Inclusion criteria were age \u2264 5 years and laboratory-confirmed RSV infection. Patients with congenital heart disease, chronic lung disease (including cystic fibrosis), immunodeficiency, or other severe chronic conditions were excluded. Collected data included age, gestational age at birth, mode of delivery, vaccination status, clinical presentation, length of hospital stay, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, seasonality of infection, and use of antibiotic therapy. Results: The median length of hospitalization was 6 days (range: 0\u201318). Younger age was significantly associated with longer hospital stay (p &lt; 0.05) and higher CRP levels (p &lt; 0.05). No significant associations were observed between hospitalization duration and mode of delivery or vaccination status. Gestational age at birth did not influence the number of clinical symptoms. The need for antibiotic therapy differed significantly according to the season of infection (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusions: In children hospitalized with RSV infection, age and seasonality were the primary factors influencing the course of hospitalization, whereas perinatal factors such as mode of delivery and vaccination status had no significant impact. These findings underscore the importance of age-oriented clinical assessment and support efforts to optimize antimicrobial stewardship during RSV seasons.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62030455","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T16:06:59Z","timestamp":1772467619000},"page":"455","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Factors Influencing the Course of Hospitalization in Children with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection: A Retrospective Single-Center Study at the Department of Pediatrics, Wadowice Hospital, Poland"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Klaudia","family":"Kasperek","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Hospital in Wadowice, Karmelicka 5, 34-100 Wadowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8797-4307","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dominik","family":"Ga\u0142uszka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cosmetology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Applied Sciences in Tarnow, Mickiewicza 8, 33-100 Tarn\u00f3w, Poland"},{"name":"Department of Organization and Supervision Emergency Medicine Department in Tarnow, Fatimskiej 2, 33-100 Tarn\u00f3w, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-2680-6647","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Agnieszka","family":"Sumara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Organization and Supervision Emergency Medicine Department in Tarnow, Fatimskiej 2, 33-100 Tarn\u00f3w, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9535-173X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Kurkiewicz-Piotrowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute for Basic Sciences, Faculty of Physiotherapy, University of Physical Culture in Krakow, Jana Paw\u0142a II 78, 31-571 Krak\u00f3w, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(22)00525-4","article-title":"Epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus in children younger than 5 years in England during the COVID-19 pandemic, measured by laboratory, clinical, and syndromic surveillance: A retrospective observational study","volume":"23","author":"Bardsley","year":"2023","journal-title":"Lancet Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6702a4","article-title":"Respiratory Syncytial Virus Seasonality\u2014United States, 2014\u20132017","volume":"67","author":"Rose","year":"2018","journal-title":"MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e11385","DOI":"10.1097\/MD.0000000000011385","article-title":"Laboratory epidemiology of respiratory viruses in a large children\u2019s hospital: A STROBE-compliant article","volume":"97","author":"Ye","year":"2018","journal-title":"Medicine"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Vandini, S., Biagi, C., and Lanari, M. (2017). Respiratory Syncytial Virus: The Influence of Serotype and Genotype Variability on Clinical Course of Infection. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 18.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms18081717"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1356","DOI":"10.1093\/infdis\/jiy056","article-title":"Respiratory syncytial virus seasonality: A global overview","volume":"217","author":"Sly","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMra1413456","article-title":"Viral bronchiolitis in children","volume":"374","author":"Meissner","year":"2016","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"277","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00010-16","article-title":"Respiratory syncytial virus: Infection, detection and new options for prevention and treatment","volume":"30","author":"Griffiths","year":"2017","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Meng, J., Stobart, C.C., Hotard, A.L., and Moore, M.L. (2014). An overview of respiratory syncytial virus. PLoS Pathog., 10.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1004016"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2536","DOI":"10.1093\/aje\/kwab181","article-title":"Risk of transmission and viral shedding from the time of infection for respiratory syncytial virus in households","volume":"190","author":"Otomaru","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm7214a1","article-title":"Seasonality of respiratory syncytial virus\u2014United States, 2017\u20132023","volume":"72","author":"Hamid","year":"2023","journal-title":"MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e24","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2014-2151","article-title":"Respiratory syncytial virus-associated mortality in hospitalized infants and young children","volume":"135","author":"Byington","year":"2015","journal-title":"Pediatrics"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2047","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(22)00478-0","article-title":"Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in children younger than 5 years in 2019: A systematic analysis","volume":"399","author":"Li","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"835","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1405870","article-title":"Community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization among U.S. children","volume":"372","author":"Jain","year":"2015","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"ofy316","DOI":"10.1093\/ofid\/ofy316","article-title":"Clinical features, severity, and incidence of RSV illness during 12 consecutive seasons in a community cohort of adults \u2265 60 years old","volume":"5","author":"Belongia","year":"2018","journal-title":"Open Forum. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Maggi, S., Veronese, N., Burgio, M., Cammarata, G., Ciuppa, M.E., Ciriminna, S., Di Gennaro, F., Smith, L., Trott, M., and Dominguez, L.J. (2022). Rate of hospitalizations and mortality of respiratory syncytial virus infection compared to influenza in older people: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Vaccines, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines10122092"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciy991","article-title":"Severe morbidity and mortality associated with respiratory syncytial virus versus influenza infection in hospitalized older adults","volume":"69","author":"Ackerson","year":"2019","journal-title":"Clin. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"946","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(17)30938-8","article-title":"Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children in 2015: A systematic review and modelling study","volume":"390","author":"Shi","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"6","article-title":"Respiratory syncytial virus: Diagnosis, prevention and management","volume":"29","author":"Barr","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ther. Adv. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1192","DOI":"10.1016\/S2213-2600(20)30454-9","article-title":"Clinical impact of molecular point-of-care testing for suspected COVID-19 in hospital (COV-19POC): A prospective, interventional, non-randomised, controlled study","volume":"8","author":"Brendish","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Respir. Med."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"500","DOI":"10.7326\/0003-4819-156-7-201204030-00403","article-title":"Accuracy of rapid influenza diagnostic tests: A meta-analysis","volume":"156","author":"Chartrand","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ann. Intern. Med."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10224","DOI":"10.1038\/ncomms10224","article-title":"RSV-specific airway resident memory CD8+ T cells and differential disease severity after experimental human infection","volume":"6","author":"Jozwik","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1359","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1398-9995.2009.02022.x","article-title":"Recurrent wheezing after respiratory syncytial virus or non-respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis in infancy: A 3-year follow-up","volume":"64","author":"Valkonen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Allergy"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chatzis, O., Darbre, S., Pasquier, J., Meylan, P., Manuel, O., Aubert, J.D., Beck-Popovic, M., Masouridi-Levrat, S., Ansari, M., and Kaiser, L. (2018). Burden of severe RSV disease among immunocompromised children and adults: A 10 year retrospective study. BMC Infect. Dis., 18.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-018-3002-3"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1545","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(10)60206-1","article-title":"Global burden of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"375","author":"Nair","year":"2010","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1791","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1211917","article-title":"Respiratory syncytial virus and recurrent wheeze in healthy preterm infants","volume":"368","author":"Blanken","year":"2013","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"WHO (2019). Prevention and Control of Acute Respiratory Infections, World Health Organization."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"371","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.13.3.371","article-title":"RSV infection in adults","volume":"13","author":"Falsey","year":"2000","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"University of Texas at Austin (2025, December 15). New Vaccine Against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Elicits Strong Immune Response. Available online: https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2019\/08\/190801142608.htm."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"Hockenberry, M.J., and Wilson, D. (2021). Wong\u2019s Nursing Care of Infants and Children, Elsevier."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.15557\/PiMR.2018.0007","article-title":"Analysis of respiratory syncytial virus infections in children up to 24 months of age hospitalized at the Clinic of Pediatrics, Nephrology, and Pediatric Allergology of the Military Institute of Medicine between 2016 and 2017","volume":"14","author":"Cegielska","year":"2018","journal-title":"Pediatr. I Med. Rodz."},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"301","article-title":"Expert Group Recommendations on Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccination in Adults","volume":"9","author":"Antczak","year":"2023","journal-title":"Lek. POZ"},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"e36342","article-title":"Respiratory syncytial virus: A comprehensive review of transmission, pathophysiology, and manifestation","volume":"15","author":"Kaler","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e31484","DOI":"10.1002\/pbc.31484","article-title":"Clinical Outcomes of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Among Pediatric Immunocompromised Hosts","volume":"72","author":"Ross","year":"2025","journal-title":"Pediatr. Blood Cancer"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e002613","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjresp-2024-002613","article-title":"Clinical outcomes and severity of laboratory-confirmed RSV compared with influenza, parainfluenza and human metapneumovirus in Australian children attending secondary care","volume":"11","author":"Sarna","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMJ Open Respir. Res."}],"container-title":["Medicina"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1648-9144\/62\/3\/455\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T16:46:24Z","timestamp":1772469984000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1648-9144\/62\/3\/455"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]}},"alternative-id":["medicina62030455"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/medicina62030455","relation":{},"ISSN":["1648-9144"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1648-9144","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]]}}}