PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SDI,
the nation’s leading disease surveillance and healthcare informatics
organization, in partnership with innovation-focused biotechnology
company MedImmune,
has announced the publication of a ground-breaking study on the
variances of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season between major
U.S. metropolitan areas. The study is published in the December issue of The
Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
RSV is the most common cause of respiratory infections in infants and
young children and is the leading cause of hospitalization in children
less than 24 months of age (1-3). Each year, an estimated
125,000 infants in the United States are hospitalized with severe RSV
infections. Those at the greatest risk for severe disease or death
include high-risk premature infants and those with compromised
respiratory, cardiac, or immune systems (4, 5). The virus is
transmitted from person to person through the air and from contact with
infected surfaces, and it predominantly circulates during fall and
winter months in the Northern Hemisphere.
The published study findings demonstrated that there is significant
variability in the onset and duration of RSV activity between
metropolitan areas located within the same region. For example, in the
three-year study, greater than 73 percent of all the measured
metropolitan areas revealed at least one week of significant RSV
activity outside of the traditional American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP)-defined season for RSV activity (or outbreaks) in their region,
which is typically November through March. In addition, the study found
that the Southern region experienced the longest duration and earliest
conclusion of RSV activity while the Midwest region exhibited the latest
season commencement and peak. Portions of Florida demonstrated
year-round RSV outbreaks (6, 7).
Furthermore, Las Vegas, Portland and Salt Lake City had longer RSV
seasons than other areas in the region. Investigators hypothesized that
the expanded season could be due to the large influx of visitors from
international tourism and business conventions during peak travel months (8).
Additionally, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri had metropolitan areas that
experienced an RSV season that was at least four weeks longer than the
average for the region.
The study was conducted using MedImmune's RSV surveillance program (RSV
Alert®), which is based on SDI's unparalleled disease
surveillance database, technology and analytics capabilities, to help
physicians correctly time RSV care for high-risk infants in their
respective metropolitan cities and regions. "RSV is a serious
respiratory disease that can have significant effects on otherwise
healthy infants. We are committed to developing therapies that reduce
the prevalence and impact of these types of infectious diseases and
improve the overall health of these patients," said Dr. Frank Malinoski,
M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president, medical and scientific Affairs, MedImmune,
and one of the study authors.
“SDI supplies the industry's largest database of disease
surveillance data to the RSV Alert program, providing real-time data
at a city/local level throughout the nation, which is critical for
delivering the information needed for improved clinical decision-making
regarding RSV management,” said Laurel Edelman, SDI vice president of
clinical accounts, who is also a study author. “Until now, clinicians
had to estimate when RSV outbreaks would occur locally, which varied
each season and within the region itself, risking the health of
thousands of infants due to lack of detailed data for their specific
regions.”
Added Edelman, “This study has revealed considerable variation in the
onset and duration of the RSV season by region, including active RSV
activity outside of the traditional window for RSV care (or as defined
by the AAP), which is November through March. This data has tremendous
potential to assist clinicians as they manage the health of high-risk
premature infants and other high-risk patients in their community.”
SDI has committed resources and expertise on an ongoing basis to enhance
RSV prevention efforts. Through a data-sharing agreement with SDI, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses SDI data to report RSV
activity nationwide through the National
Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS).
Expanding upon the NREVSS surveillance efforts, the real-time RSV
surveillance implemented during this study analyzed data at the
metropolitan city level, enabling researchers to distinguish local
geographical and temporal seasonal trends, which leads to more timely
and effective care of high-risk infants.
In addition to RSV, SDI
Clinical Operations conducts clinical surveillance programs for a
number of other diseases and conditions including colds, respiratory
illness, influenza and allergies based on de-identified, aggregated data
collected weekly from hospitals, laboratories, physician offices, health
centers, pharmacies, blood banks and public health offices around the
country.
ABOUT SDI
Since 1982, SDI has been delivering the most innovative healthcare data
products and analytic services on the market to the pharmaceutical,
biotech, healthcare, medical device and consumer packaged goods
industries. SDI is a leading provider of de-identified patient-level
data, as well as real-time localized disease and treatment surveillance
and modeling data. SDI takes a consultative approach to designing the
best analyses for its clients, combined with expert study execution and
analytical expertise to produce superior insights. Its current roster of
client companies in the pharmaceutical/biotech sector includes all of
the top 20 firms. For more information visit http://www.sdihealth.com
or call 610.834.0800.
ABOUT MEDIMMUNE
MedImmune is a leading innovation-focused biotechnology company whose
mission is to provide better medicines to patients, new medical options
for physicians and rewarding careers to employees. Dedicated to
advancing science and medicine to help people live better lives, the
company is focused on infection, oncology, respiratory disease and
inflammation, cardiovascular/ gastrointestinal disease and neuroscience.
Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, MedImmune has approximately
3,000 employees worldwide and is the wholly owned biologics business for
AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN.L) (NYSE:AZN). For more information, visit
MedImmune's website at http://www.medimmune.com.
REFERENCES
1. Shay DK, Holman RC, Newman RD, Liu LL, Stout JW, Anderson LJ.
Bronchiolitis-associated hospitalizations among US children, 1980–1996. JAMA.
1999;282:1440 –1446.
2. Leader S, Kohlhase K. Respiratory syncytial virus-coded pediatric
hospitalizations, 1997–1999. Pediatr Infect Dis J.
2002;21:629–632.
3. Boyce TG, Mellen BG, Mitchel EF Jr, Wright PF, Griffin MR. Rates of
hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus infection among children
in Medicaid. J Pediatr. 2000;137:865– 870.
4. Welliver RC. Review of epidemiology and clinical risk factors for
severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. J Pediatr 2003;143(5
Suppl):S112--17.
5. Falsey AR, Hennessey PA, Formica MA, Cox C, Walsh EE. Respiratory
syncytial virus infection in elderly and high-risk adults. N Engl J Med
2005;352:1749--59.
6. Halstead DC, Jenkins SG. Continuous non-seasonal epidemic of
respiratory syncytial virus infection in the southeast United States. South
Med J. 1998;91:433– 436.
7. Bauman J, Eggleston M, Oquist N, Malinoski F. Respiratory syncytial
virus: seasonal data for regions of Florida and implications for
palivizumab. South Med J. 2007;100:669–676.
8. Simoes EAF, Carbonell-Setrany X. Impact of severe disease caused by
respiratory syncytial virus in children living in developed countries. Pediatr
Infect Dis J. 2003;22(Suppl 5):S13–S20.
Amendola
Communications for SDI
Jan Shulman
480-664-8412 ext. 12
jshulman@ACmarketingPR.com
or
For
MedImmune
Tor Constantino
301-398-5801
constantinos@medimmune.com