Publication date: Sep 02, 2025
Studies of COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease clinical epidemiology, disease burden, and vaccine effectiveness often rely on clinical testing to identify cases, particularly with increasing use of electronic health record data. However, few data are available describing clinical testing practices to inform interpretation of these studies. To characterize clinical testing frequency for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and RSV among children and adolescents hospitalized with acute respiratory illness during the 2016 to 2024 respiratory illness seasons by age, intensive care unit admission, and time period (2016-2020 and each season in 2020-2024); estimate the case fraction missed by clinical testing alone; and identify patient characteristics associated with clinical testing. This cross-sectional study analyzed data collected through prospective surveillance with systematic molecular testing (surveillance testing) for SARS-CoV-2, influenza viruses, and RSV among children and adolescents younger than 18 years hospitalized with acute respiratory illness at 6 US medical centers during the winter respiratory illness seasons of 2016 to 2024. In-hospital clinical molecular testing data were abstracted from the medical record. The proportion of children and adolescents with clinical molecular testing for SARS-CoV-2, influenza viruses, and RSV. During 2016 to 2024, a total of 26 073 hospitalized youths were enrolled (14 459 aged
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Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| disease | MESH | Influenza |