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A CDC analysis of eight RSV seasons found that 8.6% of 18,301 adults hospitalized with RSV died in hospital or within 30 days of discharge. Of all patients, 2.6% died after discharge somewhere other than hospice; researchers say the findings support RSV prevention and closer post-hospital follow-up, but deaths were not necessarily caused by RSV.
A CDC analysis of 18,301 adults hospitalized with RSV across eight seasons found that 8.6% died in hospital or within 30 days of discharge, including 467 people who died after leaving hospital for somewhere other than hospice. The preliminary findings, presented at the IDWeek meeting on October 24, highlight deaths in the immediate post-discharge period, though researchers did not establish that RSV caused each death.
The analysis covered adults hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) from 2014 through 2024 in 14 states participating in the CDC’s Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network, known as RESP-NET. The researchers counted 1,565 deaths during hospitalization or within 30 days after discharge. Of those, 812 occurred in hospital and 753 occurred after discharge.
Among the 753 post-discharge deaths, 286 patients had been discharged to hospice. Another 467 died after discharge to a destination other than hospice, equal to 2.6% of all adults included in the analysis. CDC researcher Michael Melgar said those patients may have gone home or to another level of care, and their deaths within a month were of particular concern to the investigators.
The overall share of patients who died during hospitalization or within 30 days of discharge remained within a similar range across seasons: from 7.4% in 2018-2019 to 9.7% in 2015-2016. Deaths after discharge to somewhere other than hospice ranged from 1.8% of hospitalized patients in 2022-2023 to 3.2% in 2019-2020. The study found associations between post-discharge death and older age, but these results do not establish why individual patients died.
Deaths After RSV Discharge
The findings draw attention to a period that can be less visible than the hospital stay itself: the first month after discharge. More than 750 deaths occurred after discharge in the analysis, and 467 were among patients not discharged to hospice. The results may inform how clinicians and health systems plan follow-up for adults recovering from severe RSV, especially older patients and people with underlying conditions.
Melgar said the findings support early post-discharge follow-up and stronger discharge planning, as well as prevention messaging for adults eligible for RSV vaccination. The data do not show that follow-up would have prevented these deaths, or that RSV was the direct cause. They do, however, provide a reason to examine whether patients leaving hospital need closer monitoring for ongoing illness or other health events.
Prevention is also relevant because adult RSV vaccination began in the 2023-2024 season. The CDC recommends a one-time dose of any of three FDA-licensed RSV vaccines for all adults 75 and older, and for adults aged 50 to 74 at increased risk of severe RSV. The analysis did not assess vaccination status among hospitalized patients, so it cannot determine the effect of vaccination on the deaths reported.
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Eight RSV Seasons in 14 States
RSV can cause illness ranging from cold-like symptoms to severe lower respiratory tract disease requiring hospitalization. Adults hospitalized with RSV may also face cardiorespiratory events after discharge, including heart attack or stroke, according to the report. The analysis counted deaths within a defined period; it did not identify a cause for each death.
Investigators used RESP-NET, which tracks hospitalizations with laboratory-confirmed influenza, COVID-19 or RSV infection in participating states. RSV hospitalizations were identified using diagnostic codes for RSV pneumonia, acute bronchitis due to RSV or acute bronchiolitis due to RSV. The study period included seasons before and after adult RSV vaccines became available in 2023-2024.
Most people who died during hospitalization or within 30 days of discharge were 65 or older (81.3%), and 89% had at least one underlying medical condition. Nearly half had been admitted to an intensive care unit, and 29.1% received invasive mechanical ventilation. Those who died after discharge were more often 65 or older than those who died in hospital, while ICU admission and mechanical ventilation were less common in the post-discharge group.
“These preliminary results speak to an increased mortality risk in the immediate post-hospitalization period and support overarching prevention messaging about prioritizing recommended RSV vaccination for eligible adults.”
— Michael Melgar, MD, CDC
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Limits on the Findings
The analysis reports deaths occurring during or after RSV hospitalization, but does not establish that RSV caused those deaths. Researchers also did not examine vaccination status among hospitalized patients during the 2023-2024 season, so the study cannot show whether vaccination changed the observed outcomes.
The CDC team noted that hospitalizations may have been missed because testing depended on clinicians ordering tests. The data came from RESP-NET sites in 14 states, and the results may not represent the entire U.S. The report is preliminary, and the supplied findings do not specify what conditions or events led to individual post-discharge deaths.
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Follow-Up and Prevention
The analysis was presented at the IDWeek annual meeting. The findings point to continued attention to RSV vaccination for eligible adults and to discharge planning and early follow-up for patients hospitalized with RSV. The source material does not give a date for a full publication or describe a planned next analysis.
Further research would be needed to identify causes of post-discharge deaths, assess whether vaccination affected outcomes, and determine how well the results apply beyond the 14 states in RESP-NET. Until then, the numbers describe deaths within a set time window after hospitalization, not deaths proven to have been caused by RSV.
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Key Questions
How many adults died during or soon after an RSV hospitalization?
Among 18,301 adults hospitalized from 2014 to 2024, 1,565, or 8.6%, died in hospital or within 30 days after discharge.
How many died after discharge outside hospice?
467 people died after discharge somewhere other than hospice. That was 2.6% of all adults in the analysis.
Does the study prove RSV caused these deaths?
No. The analysis counted deaths during hospitalization or within 30 days after discharge, but deaths were not necessarily attributable to RSV.
Who does the CDC recommend receive an RSV vaccine?
The CDC recommends a one-time dose of an FDA-licensed RSV vaccine for all adults 75 and older, and adults aged 50 to 74 at increased risk of severe RSV.
Source: rss
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