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Opinion|Videos|October 11, 2024

Older Adults, High-Risk Populations, and Severe Illness

Key Takeaways

  • Older adults, especially those with chronic heart or lung diseases, are at high risk for severe RSV illness.
  • Severe RSV can result in hospitalization, long-term respiratory complications, and increased mortality in older adults.
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Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, discusses the CDC’s recommendation for an RSV vaccine for all adults aged 75 years and older, as well as those aged 60 to 74 years at increased risk, and outlines the conditions that elevate the risk for severe illness, including the implications of severe illness, such as hospitalization, long-term effects, complications, comorbidities, and mortality, while also comparing how RSV infection affects older vs younger adults.

Episodes in this series

Video content above is prompted by the following:

  1. The CDC recommends an RSV vaccine for all adults aged 75 years and older and for adults aged 60 to 74 years who are at increased risk for severe RSV. What conditions put an individual at high risk for developing severe illness?
    1. Describe the implications of severe illness (ie, hospitalization, long-term effects, complications, comorbidities, mortality).
  2. How does RSV infection affect older vs younger adults?

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