ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1473448
This article is part of the Research TopicImpact of Viral Infections on Childhood Asthma: Susceptibility and PathomechanismsView all articles
Genetic susceptibility associated with hospitalization due to respiratory syncytial virus in a group of Taiwanese children-A Preliminary study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- 2Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- 3Institute of Health Data Analytics and Statistics, Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- 4Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan
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Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children worldwide. While several risk factors for severe RSV illness are known, the role of host genetic susceptibility remains underexplored, particularly in East Asian populations. Objective: This preliminary study aimed to identify genetic variants associated with RSV-related hospitalization in the Taiwanese pediatric population using a genome-wide association approach. Methods: A total of 260 children aged ≥6 months were recruited from Mackay Memorial Hospital and the corresponding author’s social media page between November 2020 and March 2022. Genotyping was performed using the Axiom Genome-Wide TPM 2.0 array, followed by imputation and quality control. Genome-wide association analyses were conducted under additive, dominant, and recessive models, adjusting for population stratification. Results: Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were significantly associated with RSV hospitalization risk (rs183825, rs141541148, rs7296788, rs16862251, rs1525107, rs2105758, rs622946, and rs12857032). Notably, rs141541148 (OR = 9.14) and rs1361088 (OR = 8.58 in boys) were associated with substantially increased risk. Conversely, rs16862251 was linked to a reduced risk (OR = 0.19), suggesting a protective role possibly mediated through T-cell receptor signaling. Conclusion: Our findings identify several gene loci associated with higher rates of hospital admissions due to RSV in children of ≥6 months of age. By studying the genetic variations that may predispose people to RSV infection, it may be possible to gain a better understanding of risk factors and prioritize vaccination for specific populations.
Keywords: Genetic polymorphism 1, respiratory syncytial virus 2, Taiwanese pediatric population 3, Hospitalization 4, risk factor
Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Chen, Lu, Wang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Daniel Tsung-Ning Huang, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
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