Vol. 42 No. 3 (2025): Junio
Original Article

Epidemiology and seasonality of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in the Dominican Republic --An analysis from 2013 to 2023

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  • Manuel Colomé-Hidalgo,
  • José Brea del Castillo,
  • Roberto Debbag,
  • María L. Avila-Aguero,
  • Miguel Gallego-Munuera,
  • Mariana Fozie Dauhajre Pimentel
Manuel Colomé-Hidalgo
Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), República Dominicana
José Brea del Castillo
Sociedad Dominicana de Vacunología, República Dominicana
Roberto Debbag
Sociedad Latinoamericana de Vacunología, Argentina
María L. Avila-Aguero
Hospital Nacional de Roberto Niños Dr. Carlos Sáenz Herrera, Costa Rica
Miguel Gallego-Munuera
Escuela Nacional de Sanidad, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, España
Mariana Fozie Dauhajre Pimentel
Fellow de Investigación, Hospital Pediátrico Dr. Hugo Mendoza, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.
Una Salud

Published 2025-07-04

Keywords

How to Cite

1.
Colomé-Hidalgo M, Brea del Castillo J, Debbag R, Avila-Aguero ML, Gallego-Munuera M, Dauhajre Pimentel MF. Epidemiology and seasonality of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in the Dominican Republic --An analysis from 2013 to 2023. Rev. Chilena. Infectol. [Internet]. 2025 Jul. 4 [cited 2026 Apr. 30];42(3). Available from: https://revinf.cl/index.php/revinf/article/view/2331

Copyright (c) 2025 Manuel Colomé-Hidalgo, José Brea del Castillo, Roberto Debbag, María L. Ávila-Agüero, Miguel Gallego-Munuera, Mariana Fozie Dauhajre Pimentel

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Background:  RSV is a major contributor to the disease burden, particularly in infants, and it is important to understand the annual patterns and implications for public health. Aim: To determine the epidemiological behavior and seasonality of RSV in the Dominican Republic from 2013 to 2023. Methodology: Analytical and retrospective study using sentinel surveillance data. RSV was diagnosed using RT-PCR. The Moving Epidemic Method (MEM) was used to analyze its seasonality, identifying the weeks of onset, peak, and end of each epidemic season. Differences between age groups were evaluated using the ꭓ2 test. Results: 58.2 % of the cases were infants, with a predominance of males (60.5 %). RSV exhibits fluctuating seasonality, commencing between weeks 29 and 47 (average week 33) depending on the year, and reaching its peak between weeks 31 and 48 (average week 38), aligning with the months of August and September. The duration was approximately 37 weeks, although some, like the one in 2023, were significantly shorter. Conclusions: A high RSV burden in infants was confirmed, with consistent seasonal patterns. The findings underscore the need to implement prevention strategies, continuous epidemiological surveillance, and prospective studies to optimize the health response and guide the design of public health policies.

Keywords: epidemiology; respiratory syncytial virus; sentinel surveillance; Dominican Republic; public health.

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