Cardiac Events in Adults Hospitalized for Respiratory Syncytial Virus vs COVID-19 or Influenza

Question  What is the risk of acute cardiovascular complications in adults hospitalized for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vs influenza or SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection?

Findings  In this cross-sectional study comparing 32 960 hospitalizations for RSV with hospitalizations for influenza or Omicron XBB/JN.1 COVID-19, 10.9% of unvaccinated adults hospitalized for RSV had an acute cardiovascular event. Significantly higher odds of cardiac events were observed in patients hospitalized for RSV vs those hospitalized for COVID-19 who had received boosters or those hospitalized for contemporaneous vaccine-breakthrough influenza.

Meaning  Cardiac events were more frequent in unvaccinated patients hospitalized for RSV vs boosted COVID-19 or contemporaneous vaccine-breakthrough influenza; evaluating vaccination’s role in attenuating cardiac risk in patients with respiratory viral infection is important, given availability of RSV vaccines for older adults.