SynthesisJournal of global health2017
The burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) associated acute lower respiratory infections in children with Down syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of global health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Respiratory support in patients with Down syndrome: a systematic review.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence and incidence of physical health conditions in people with intellectual disability - a systematic review.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Immune Dysregulation in Down Syndrome: Implications for Infectious Susceptibility and Vaccine Response.Journal of clinical immunology · 2026Review
- How I Treat: Immune dysregulation in Down syndrome.Journal of human immunity · 2026Review
- Disseminated BCG disease and recurrent pulmonary infections in a child with trisomy 21 carrying a novelFrontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations in adults with Down syndrome - a prospective cohort study.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Observational
- Article
- Severe respiratory syncytial virus disease.Journal of intensive medicine · 2024Review
- Choroid plexus defects in Down syndrome brain organoids enhance neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2.Science advances · 2024Article
- Does nirsevimab prevent lower respiratory infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus?Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024Article
- Recurrent Respiratory Infections in Children with Down Syndrome: A Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Review
- Specific Susceptibility to COVID-19 in Adults with Down Syndrome.Neuromolecular medicine · 2021Article
- Lung disease manifestations in Down syndrome.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2021Review
- Down syndrome and type I interferon: not so simple.Current opinion in immunology · 2021Review
- Prenatal histological, cellular, and molecular anomalies in trisomy 21 lung.The Journal of pathology · 2021Article
- Risk factors of severe hospitalized respiratory syncytial virus infection in tertiary care center in Thailand.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2021Article
- Respiratory Syncytial Virus-related Death in Children With Down Syndrome: The RSV GOLD Study.The Pediatric infectious disease journal · 2020Article
- Down syndrome.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2020Review
- Identification of miRNA-mRNA Crosstalk in Respiratory Syncytial Virus- (RSV-) Associated Pediatric Pneumonia through Integrated miRNAome and Transcriptome Analysis.Mediators of inflammation · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAcute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRIs) caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are a leading cause of hospitalization in infants. Numerous risk factors have been identified in the aetiology of severe RSV-associated ALRI necessitating hospitalisation, including prematurity and congenital heart disease. Down syndrome (DS), a common genetic disorder associated with congenital and dysmorphic features, has recently been identified as an independent risk factor for RSV-associated ALRI requiring hospitalisation; however, the disease burden of RSV-associated ALRI in this population has not yet been established. Similarly, the impact of DS as an independent risk factor has not yet been quantified. We aimed therefore to estimate the incidence of admissions in children with DS, and by comparing this with unaffected children, to quantify the risk of DS independent of other risk factors.
methodsA systematic review of the existing literature published between 1995 and March 1, 2017 was performed to quantify the incidence of hospitalisation due to RSV-associated ALRI in children with DS. Meta-analyses were performed on extracted data using STATA statistical software, and hospitalisation rates for children with and without DS under the age of 2 were calculated.
findings5 articles were ultimately deemed eligible for analyses. Analyses were limited to children under the age of 2 years. We calculated the hospitalisation rate for children with DS in this age group to be 117.6 per 1000 child-years (95% CI 67.4-205.2), vs a rate of 15.2 per 1000 child-years (95% CI 8.3-27.6) in unaffected children. This indicates DS contributes to a 6.8 (95% CI 5.5-8.4) fold increase in the relative risk of hospitalisation for RSV-associated ALRI.
interpretationThough limited by a small number of articles, this review found sufficient evidence to conclude DS was a significant independent risk factor for the development of severe RSV-associated ALRI requiring hospitalisation. Further studies are needed to define the impact of DS in conjunction with other comorbidities on the risk of severe RSV infection. Determining benefits of immunoprophylaxis or future vaccines against RSV in this at-risk population is warranted.
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