# Surveillance for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and Other Viral Respiratory Infections Among American Indians/Alaska Natives

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $1,592,308

## Abstract

Project Summary
Respiratory Syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading viral cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI),
including bronchiolitis and pneumonia, globally. RSV disease in infancy is associated with substantial morbidity
and mortality, and infants who experience severe RSV are at increased risk of recurrent wheeze and asthma
later in life. American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), who experience many health disparities, are at
substantially increased risk of RSV compared to the general US population. Numerous products for the
prevention of RSV in infants and children are currently in late stage development, including maternal vaccines
and monoclonal antibodies. Such interventions are urgently needed in AI/AN communities.
Current CDC surveillance systems do not measure RSV illness in AI/AN populations. Furthermore, the burden
of RSV in pregnant women and the effect it may have on pregnancy and delivery outcomes are poorly
understood. Quantifying the current burden and characterizing the epidemiology of RSV disease in AI/AN
children and pregnant women is a critical step to inform optimal use of RSV-prevention products to reduce
disease and promote health equity.
The proposed research will build upon long-standing collaborations between tribal partners, the Johns Hopkins
Center for American Indian Health (JHCAIH) and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) to
create the RSV Surveillance in Native Americans (RSV-SuNA) system. RSV-SuNA will quantify and describe
RSV disease in AI/AN children under five years and pregnant women in three communities in the southwestern
US and two communities in Alaska over five RSV seasons. The platform will consist of active, population-
based, in-patient and outpatient surveillance for ALRI across multiple settings and seasons in order to provide
a robust understanding of RSV disease in Native populations. Nasal swabs will be collected from consenting
participants and tested for the presence of RSV and other pathogens associated with ALRI using validated
laboratory methods. This, and the use of standardized case definitions and data collection in instruments, will
facilitate comparison across sites and with other active surveillance networks (e.g. CDC’s existing New
Vaccine Surveillance Network). This study will determine the age-specific incidence of RSV-associated
hospitalizations and outpatient visits in these AI/AN communities and characterize RSV- and non-RSV
associated ALRI, including risk factors, clinical course, and sequalae.
The collaborative, multi-site approach will fill key gaps in our understanding of the epidemiology of RSV and
produce meaningful data to inform policy and monitor RSV disease in AI/AN populations. The RSV-SuNA
system could be replicated in other AI/AN populations and could be used after the introduction of RSV
prevention products to quantify their impact on the burden of both RSV and non-RSV ALRI.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9980740
- **Project number:** 5U01IP001116-02
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura Hammitt
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,592,308
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9980740

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9980740, Surveillance for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and Other Viral Respiratory Infections Among American Indians/Alaska Natives (5U01IP001116-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9980740. Licensed CC0.

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