Specific Respiratory Infections as Triggers of Acute Medical Events

Specific Respiratory Infections as Triggers of Acute Medical Events: Time Series Analysis Using LabBase and Hospital Episode Statistics

This study will investigate whether there is a population-level association between circulating respiratory viruses and NHS hospital admissions for acute vascular events using data from national infection surveillance and Hospital Episode Statistics.

We will conduct a time series study correlating anonymised population level data on all samples from NHS laboratories testing positive for six common respiratory viruses with admissions to NHS hospitals in England for a range of cardiac and vascular outcomes over the time period 01/01/2004 to 31/12/2014. This will involve generating Poisson regression models controlling for factors such as seasonal and long-term trends, environmental temperature and humidity.

This study is funded by an Academy of Medical Sciences Starter Grant for Clinical Lecturers.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Any individual with a record of an eligible outcome (ICD-10 coded hospitalisation for myocardial infarction or stroke) within the study period aged 45+ years
• Any individual with a record of an eligible exposure (laboratory-confirmed respiratory virus) within the study period at any age

Exclusion Criteria:

• Outcome events occurring in people aged <45 years