Healthcare-Associated RSV: Likely More Common Than We Think

A new study in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology takes a fresh look at how we define healthcare-associated respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—and the findings suggest we may be undercounting these cases.

Traditionally, a case of healthcare-associated RSV has been defined as someone testing positive after hospital day 3. But this study expanded the scope to include patients who tested positive early in their hospitalization and had recent exposure to another healthcare setting—like a post-acute care facility or a recent hospital stay.

By broadening the definition this way, the proportion of RSV hospitalizations potentially tied to healthcare exposure jumped from 4.6% to 15.1%. Many of these patients were older adults with underlying conditions, and a significant number required ICU-level care.

This matters for infection prevention. RSV isn’t always on the radar as a healthcare-associated virus, but the data suggest we should reconsider that. Including post-acute and recent hospital exposures in surveillance could help us better detect and prevent transmission—and inform decisions around testing, isolation, and vaccination strategies.

📄 Full article: https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2025.88