| Description: |
Background: The majority of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in young children are managed in primary care, however, the disease burden in this setting remains poorly defined. Methods: We did a prospective cohort study in primary care settings in Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK during the RSV seasons of 2020–21 (UK only; from Jan 1, 2021), 2021–22, and 2022–23. Children aged younger than 5 years presenting to their general practitioner or primary care paediatrician with symptoms of an acute respiratory tract infection were eligible for RSV testing. Children who tested positive for RSV were consented and followed up for 30 days via a physician clinical report (initial primary care visit on day 1) and two parent-report questionnaires (days 14 and 30). We assessed the burden of RSV in terms of clinical course (symptoms, illness duration, and complications), health-care resource utilisation (primary care visits, emergency department visits, hospitalisation rate, and medication use), and societal impact (daycare or school absence and parental work absence) for the 30-day follow-up period. Findings: Among 3414 tested children, 1124 (32·9%; 95% CI 31·3–34·5) tested positive for RSV. Among children with data on age, RSV positivity rate was 38·9% (36·1–41·7; n=466 of 1198) in children younger than 1 year and 25·9% (24·0–27·9; n=513 of 1979) in those aged 1 to |