Clinical, Meteorological, and Air Quality Factors Associated with Ambulatory Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Machala, Ecuador, 2018–2023

Manika Suryadevara (), Dongliang Wang, Freddy Pizarro Fajardo, Jorge-Louis Carrillo Aponte, Froilan Heras, Cinthya Cueva Aponte, Irene Torres and Joseph B. Domachowske
Additional contact information
Manika Suryadevara: Department of Pediatrics, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 East Adams Street, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Dongliang Wang: Department of Pediatrics, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 East Adams Street, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Freddy Pizarro Fajardo: Hospital General del Norte de Guayaquil IESS Los Ceibos, Guayaquil 090615, Ecuador
Jorge-Louis Carrillo Aponte: Research Center at Hospital Teofilo Davila, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Machala 070206, Ecuador
Froilan Heras: Research Center at Hospital Teofilo Davila, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Machala 070206, Ecuador
Cinthya Cueva Aponte: Research Center at Hospital Teofilo Davila, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Machala 070206, Ecuador
Irene Torres: Fundacion Octaedro, Quito 170135, Ecuador
Joseph B. Domachowske: Department of Pediatrics, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 East Adams Street, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: Implementation of RSV prevention strategies requires an understanding of seasonal virus epidemiology; yet, such data are lacking in many tropical regions. We describe the seasonality and environmental factors associated with RSV activity in Machala, Ecuador. From July 2018 to July 2023, we analyzed nasopharyngeal samples from children younger than 5 years with an acute respiratory illness using Biofire FilmArray v.1.7™. Meteorological data were obtained from Ecuador’s Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología. RSV detection was associated with mean outdoor air temperature (threshold 27 °C, area under the curve (AUC) 0.74, p < 0.001) that was even stronger when using a 4-week lag (threshold 27 °C, AUC 0.865, p < 0.001) and with precipitation greater than 0.5 mm/week using a 6-week lag ( p = 0.008). This finding could provide guidance for the ideal timing to improve RSV surveillance and implement RSV prevention measures in Machala, including universal administration of extended half-life monoclonal antibody to infants entering their first RSV season.

Keywords: pediatrics; respiratory syncytial virus; respiratory virus; Ecuador; tropics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/272/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/272/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:272-:d:1589951

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().