Student or educator? Sign up with your school email and get 6 months of Pro free.
CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 0

The DOI matches its Crossref record; the references it cites are not checked yet.

Parents’ awareness of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and its prevention: a cross-sectional study in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Alzahrani, Ahmed J., Aloliyan, Sara, Albakran, Deem, Alhoshan, Aljohara, Alaklabi, Rama, Aljalajel, Sarah, Alfraih, Tala·2026·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/s41598-026-63728-0
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) represents a major public health challenge as a primary cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children globally, with an estimated 33 million cases and 100,000 deaths annually in children under five. Despite recent advances in RSV immunoprophylaxis, parental understanding of RSV epidemiology, transmission dynamics, vulnerable populations, and available preventive strategies remains inadequately characterized in Middle Eastern populations. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of parental awareness regarding RSV and its prevention among parents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We conducted a community-based cross-sectional survey among parents residing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between February and March 2026. Using convenience sampling through online platforms, we recruited parents with at least one child. A structured, self-administered Arabic questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, prior RSV awareness, knowledge of transmission routes and clinical manifestations, recognition of high-risk groups, and awareness of preventive immunization. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to examine associations between demographic variables and RSV awareness. Among 214 eligible parents, the majority were female and held bachelor’s degrees. Only 35.0% (95% CI: 28.7–41.8%) had previously heard of RSV. Knowledge deficits were substantial across multiple domains, with considerable proportions unable to identify transmission mechanisms, symptoms, or high-risk populations. The majority were unaware that preventive injections exist. Among those aware of RSV prevention, social media was the predominant information source, while healthcare professionals accounted for a small minority. Educational level showed a positive but non-significant association with RSV awareness. This study reveals critically low prevalence of RSV awareness among parents in Riyadh, with substantial knowledge gaps across all domains of RSV epidemiology and prevention. These findings underscore an urgent public health need for multi-level interventions targeting both community education and healthcare system strengthening. Integrating RSV education into maternal-child health services and developing culturally appropriate health communication strategies are essential to reduce the burden of RSV-related morbidity and mortality in Saudi Arabia.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41598-026-63728-0

Cites

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet

Research works printed but not linked: 23

  1. Shi, T. et al. Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children in 2015: a systematic review and modelling study. Lancet 390 (10098), 946–958. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30938-8 (2017). · DOI
  2. Li, Y. et al. Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in children younger than 5 years in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet 399 (10340), 2047–2064. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00478-0 (2022). · DOI
  3. Hall, C. B. et al. The burden of respiratory syncytial virus infection in young children. N Engl. J. Med. 360 (6), 588–598. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa0804877 (2009). · DOI
  4. Fauroux, B. et al. The burden and long-term respiratory morbidity associated with respiratory syncytial virus infection in early childhood. Infect. Dis. Ther. 6 (2), 173–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40121-017-0151-4 (2017). · DOI
  5. Hodgson, D. et al. Evaluating the next generation of RSV intervention strategies: a mathematical modelling study and cost-effectiveness analysis. BMC Med. 18 (1), 348. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-01802-8 (2020). · DOI
  6. Kenmoe, S. et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of common respiratory viruses in children < 2 years with bronchiolitis in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era. PLoS One. 15 (11), e0242302. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242302 (2020). · DOI
  7. Almajhdi, F. N. et al. Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of respiratory syncytial virus infection in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. J. Infect. Public. Health. 12 (6), 825–829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2019.05.008 (2019). · DOI
  8. Hammitt, L. L. et al. Nirsevimab for prevention of RSV in healthy late-preterm and term infants. N Engl. J. Med. 386 (9), 837–846. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2110275 (2022). · DOI
  9. Kampmann, B. et al. Bivalent prefusion F vaccine in pregnancy to prevent RSV illness in infants. N Engl. J. Med. 388 (16), 1451–1464. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2216480 (2023). · DOI · Paper page
  10. Katz, I. et al. Awareness, knowledge and attitudes of Australian parents towards the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus in infants and young children in Australia. medRxiv. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.18.23297187 · DOI
  11. Bengtsson, M. et al. Parental awareness and attitudes toward respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination: a cross-sectional study in Sweden. Vaccine 42 (8), 1923–1930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.02.018 (2024). · DOI
  12. Harteveld, L. M. et al. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prevention: perception and willingness of expectant parents in the Netherlands. medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.22.24309339 (2024). · DOI
  13. Wang, Y. et al. Investigating parental perceptions of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and attitudes to RSV vaccine in Jiangsu, China: insights from a cross-section study. Vaccine 42 (26), 126570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.126570 (2024). · DOI
  14. Langer, J. et al. Parental knowledge and attitudes to infant immunization in the context of RSV: All about confidence? Vaccine 42 (19), 3847–3854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.06.018 (2024). · DOI
  15. Abu-Farha, R. et al. Parental awareness and acceptance of respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies for infants in Jordan. Hum. Vaccin Immunother. 21 (1), 2588886. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2025.2588886 (2025). · DOI
  16. Kherfan, T. & Sallam, M. Assessing awareness and acceptance of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine among young females in Jordan: a cross-sectional study. Vaccines 11 (8), 1386. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11081386 (2023). · DOI · Paper page
  17. Gavaruzzi, T. et al. Knowledge and awareness of respiratory syncytial virus infection: a systematic review. Vaccines 13 (2), 159. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13020159 (2025). · DOI · Paper page
  18. Broniatowski, D. A. et al. Weaponized health communication: Twitter bots and Russian trolls amplify the vaccine debate. Am. J. Public. Health. 108 (10), 1378–1384. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304567 (2018). · DOI · Paper page
  19. Johnson, N. F. et al. The online competition between pro- and anti-vaccination views. Nature 582 (7811), 230–233. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2281-1 (2020). · DOI
  20. Almalki, M., Fitzgerald, G. & Clark, M. Health care system in Saudi Arabia: an overview. East. Mediterr. Health J. 17 (10), 784–793 (2011). · DOI
  21. Cochran, W. G. Sampling Techniques 3rd edn (Wiley, 1977).
  22. Opel, D. J. et al. The architecture of provider-parent vaccine discussions at health supervision visits. Pediatrics 132 (6), 1037–1046. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-2037 (2013). · DOI · Paper page
  23. Nowak, G. J. et al. Addressing vaccine hesitancy: The potential value of commercial and social marketing principles and practices. Vaccine 33 (34), 4204–4211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.04.039 (2015). · DOI

Metadata

Authors
Alzahrani, A. J., Aloliyan, S., Albakran, D., Alhoshan, A., Alaklabi, R., Aljalajel, S., & Alfraih, T.
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2026-08-01
Volume
16
Issue
1
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-026-63728-0
Cited by
0
Language
en
Licence

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

How to cite

Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.

This page
CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Parents’ awareness of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and its prevention: a cross-sectional study in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1038/s41598-026-63728-0
The paper
Alzahrani, A. J., Aloliyan, S., Albakran, D., Alhoshan, A., Alaklabi, R., Aljalajel, S., & Alfraih, T. (2026). Parents’ awareness of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and its prevention: a cross-sectional study in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63728-0

Data sources

Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.

Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.