The rates of respiratory syncytial virus-associated hospitalizations were three to nine times higher for assisted living residents compared with the rates for community-dwelling older adults in a three-year prospective study for which results recently were published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
The researchers said that the higher rates in assisted living might reflect higher exposure risks for residents, who generally have more opportunities to engage in the wider community.
Older age and comorbid conditions increase the risk for severe RSV, placing assisted living and skilled nursing facility residents at the intersection of those risk factors, they said.
The three-year prospective study by University of Rochester researchers compared the population-based incidence of RSV-associated hospitalizations for community-dwelling older adults 85 and older with the incidence for assisted living community and skilled nursing facility residents in Rochester, NY. They found that the rates of RSV-associated hospitalizations were three to nine times higher for assisted living residents, and three to four times higher for skilled nursing residents, compared with community-dwelling older adults.
RSV risk factors are older age and preexisting chronic medical conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes and underlying frailty. The study authors noted that long-term care residents often check all the boxes for those risk factors, which they said highlights the need to consider residency in an assisted living community or nursing home an additional risk factor for RSV.
They authors said that their results warrant further study in other geographic locations but overall suggest the need for strong vaccine recommendations to prevent RSV in long-term care residents.
In an update to its fall vaccination guidelines for older adults and people with disabilities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all adults aged 75 or more years receive one lifetime dose of RSV vaccine and that adults aged 60 to 74 years who are at increased risk for serious illness receive one lifetime vaccine dose. The CDC said the RSV vaccine can cut an older adult’s risk of hospitalization by more than half.
