{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T14:40:19Z","timestamp":1780929619406,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,11]],"date-time":"2025-04-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744329600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"EU","award":["PE00000007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PE00000007"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the main etiological agent in pediatric lower respiratory tract infections. The limited availability of therapeutic options for severe clinical cases associated with RSV infection makes prophylactic interventions a priority for containment. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the epidemiology of RSV in the Piedmont population and the consequences of containment measures applied during the pandemic on viral circulation in the immediate and medium-term post-pandemic phase. Methods: This study considered all biological samples analyzed for RSV at the City of Health and Science of Turin collected from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2023. Evaluation of the positivity rates of samples was performed and differences between pediatric and adult population swabs (nasopharyngeal, pharyngeal, nasal aspirates) and bronchoalveolar samples were reported. Results: This study analyzed 14,085 samples and highlighted a trend in Piedmont RSV infections characterized by a higher pediatric population involvement of 82% compared to the adult population at 17%. A higher number of URT infections (95%) compared to LRT infections (4.6%) was also identified. This study shows a peak in RSV cases from November to April between 2016 and 2020. Our data show no RSV positivity during the 2020\/2021 winter season, a result most likely due to the influence of containment measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Our study provided an epidemiological panorama of RSV and its high prevalence in pediatrics and adults. Pediatrics had a higher prevalence, while adults presented a delayed trend of about one month compared to pediatrics. The effectiveness of infection control measures applied during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to limit viral infections were proved. Future studies may further investigate the impact of the SARS pandemic on RSV epidemiology considering patients at a higher risk of severe symptoms.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens14040375","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,11]],"date-time":"2025-04-11T10:05:51Z","timestamp":1744365951000},"page":"375","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The Epidemiology of Respiratory Syncytial Virus and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Retrospective Evaluation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3972-2871","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Solidoro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Respiratory Medicine, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, AOU Citt\u00e0 Della Salute e Della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"},{"name":"Medical Sciences Department, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8101-4196","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Curtoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Virology, Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, AOU Citt\u00e0 Della Salute e Della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6549-4553","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina","family":"Costa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Virology, Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, AOU Citt\u00e0 Della Salute e Della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8338-0130","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco Giuseppe","family":"De Rosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Unit of Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10149 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1979-3229","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Bondi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Virology, Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, AOU Citt\u00e0 Della Salute e Della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5241-5273","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Sidoti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Virology, Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, AOU Citt\u00e0 Della Salute e Della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nour","family":"Shbaklo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Unit of Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10149 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Filippo","family":"Patrucco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Diseases Unit, Medical Department, AOU Maggiore Della Carit\u00e0 di Novara, 28100 Novara, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Favre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Respiratory Medicine, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, AOU Citt\u00e0 Della Salute e Della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elisa","family":"Zanotto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Virology, Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, AOU Citt\u00e0 Della Salute e Della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"Corcione","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Unit of Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10149 Torino, Italy"},{"name":"Division of Geographic Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3999-5298","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rocco Francesco","family":"Rinaldo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Respiratory Medicine, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, AOU Citt\u00e0 Della Salute e Della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"},{"name":"Medical Sciences Department, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","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_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e48","DOI":"10.1017\/S0950268820000400","article-title":"The Burden of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis","volume":"148","author":"Htar","year":"2020","journal-title":"Epidemiol. 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