Background: Worldwide, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections are among the most common causes of infant hospitalization. Host genetic factors influencing the risk and severity of RSV infection are not well known.
Methods: We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to investigate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with severe RSV infections using a nested case-control design based on 2 Danish cohorts. We compared SNPs from 1786 children hospitalized with RSV to 45 060 controls without an RSV-coded hospitalization. We performed gene-based testing, tissue enrichment, gene-set enrichment, and a meta-analysis of the 2 cohorts. Finally, an analysis of potential associations between the severity of RSV infection and genetic markers was performed.
Results: We did not detect any significant genome-wide associations between SNPs and RSV infection or the severity of RSV. We did find potential loci associated with RSV infections on chromosome 5 in 1 cohort but failed to replicate any signals in both cohorts.
Conclusions: Despite being the largest GWAS of severe RSV infection, we did not detect any genome-wide significant loci. This may be an indication of a lack of power or an absence of signal. Future studies might include mild illness and need to be larger to detect any significant associations.
Keywords: RSV; genetic association studies; genome-wide association study; respiratory syncytial virus.
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.