Both enterovirus (EV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are respiratory viruses that cause millions of infections each year. Small children, the elderly, immunosuppressed patients and people with certain comorbidities are at risk of serious infections.
Enterovirus
EV belongs to the picornaviridae family, a large group of single-stranded RNA-viruses that infects both people and animals. Human EV is divided into EV A-D and rhinovirus (RV) A-C.
More than 250 different human pathogenic EVs have been identified and new viruses are identified on an ongoing basis. EVs have been estimated to cause more than one billion human infections each year. As with many other RNA viruses, including coronaviruses, EVs mutate frequently and may be transmitted between human and animals, increasing the risk of serious infections and pandemic transmission.
“EV has been estimated to cause more than one billion human infections each year.”
EV primarily replicates in the gut and respiratory system, but the virus may spread to other organs and cause disease. A majority of EV infections are either asymptomatic or cause only mild disease (e.g., the common cold). But EVs may also cause serious diseases (e.g., meningitis, encephalitis, sepsis, myocarditis and paralytic disease) and death in vulnerable individuals.
Respiratory Syncytial virus (RSV)
Each year, it has been estimated that, RSV causes about 30 million acute lower respiratory tract infections, about 3.2 million hospital admissions and more than 100,000 deaths. From a global perspective, RSV is a major cause of pediatric hospitalizations and deaths. In adults, RSV accounts for about 5–15% of the pneumonia cases during RSV season and, in the US, 11,000–17,000 adults die each year while tenfold more are admitted to the hospital with respiratory complications. In the US, the annual cost of RSV is estimated to be more than $600 million. It is worth noting that RSV hospitalizations are 16 times more prevalent than influenza hospitalizations.
