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ESPID 2026: New Insights into the Burden and Prevention of Paediatric RTIs Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) remain one of the leading causes of hospitalisation and mortality in infants and young children, yet their full burden is still not completely understood. At ESPID this year, research presented across sessions offered several important insights: 🔍 RSV prevention is showing broad impact  Presentations at ESPID highlighted how maternal and newborn immunisation strategies are reducing hospitalisations, with early signals pointing to lower rates of wheezing, and asthma‑related symptoms. But discussions did also point to remaining questions, for instance around duration of protection, timing, and variation across populations. 🧬 Pneumococcal disease is evolving  Regarding Pneumococcal disease, scientists explained that new, broader‑coverage vaccines are shifting which serotypes (different variants of the bacteria) are most common, meaning which types are circulating most frequently in the population. These changes can influence how infections spread, how severe they are, and how well antibiotics continue to work. Emerging research presented at the event also suggested potential interactions between RSV and pneumococcal infections, opening new avenues for understanding combined disease burden. 🦠 hMPV may be underestimated  Insights shared at ESPID pointed out that human metapneumovirus (hMPV) continues to be underdiagnosed due to overlapping symptoms with other respiratory infections. Discussions emphasised that improving testing and detection is key to understanding its true impact on paediatric populations. Across the sessions, a consistent takeaway was that strengthening real‑world evidence (RWE) will be critical to better understand long‑term outcomes, co‑infections, and how prevention strategies perform in everyday clinical practice. 💡 Want to explore these insights in more detail and what they mean for the future of paediatric RTI prevention?  Read the full blog here 👇 Jan van der Eijk J. Jasper Deuring Femke Oldenziel Jikke de Jong Gabriela Ojeda Arqueros Ana Merino Vico Jenna McCormick #RealWorldEvidence #Paediatrics #InfectiousDiseases