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The real cost of RSV, a common but often fatal disease
RESCEU have put together the most comprehensive cache of evidence to date on the true burden of a disease that still claims millions of mostly infant victims every year
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Anyone can catch respiratory syncytial virus, and most people are infected before their fifth birthday. Symptoms can vary from mild to deadly. Young children are at greatest risk, though it can also be serious for older people and those with other health problems. To try to get the full picture of how much of an impact the disease has on populations and public health systems, a team of researchers, policy makers, pharma sector representatives and patient advocates came together under the RESCEU project to produce an evidence-based tally of the costs of the disease, with the ultimate aim of using the data to feed public health strategies.
19 May 2021 - Wits Communications
A new study has found a high burden of influenza in a rural and an urban setting in SA, where asymptomatic people – particularly children – transmit this virus.
Influenza (flu) causes approximately 300 000-600 000 respiratory deaths globally annually, with the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
Data on influenza community burden and transmission are important to plan interventions especially in resource-limited settings.
However, data are limited, particularly on the symptomatic proportion by age and particularly from low-income and middle-income countries.
The study, by Wits scientists, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), and colleagues at North West University and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was published in