Respiratory syncytial virus can cause severe illness and even death, particularly in infants. The increased severity of disease in young children is thought to be due to a lack of previous exposure to the virus as well as the limited immune response in infants. While studies have examined the clinical differences in disease between infants and adults, there has been limited examination of how the viral dynamics differ as infants develop. In this study, we apply a mathematical model to data from cotton rats and ferrets of different ages to assess how viral kinetics parameters change as the animals age. We find no clear trend in the viral decay rate, infecting time, and basic reproduction number as the animals age. We discuss possible reasons for the null result including the limited data, lack of detail of the mathematical model, and the limitations of animal models.

呼吸道合胞病毒可导致严重疾病甚至死亡，尤其是在婴儿中。幼儿疾病严重程度的增加被认为是由于以前没有接触过这种病毒以及婴儿的免疫反应有限。虽然研究已经检查了婴儿和成人之间疾病的临床差异，但对病毒动力学如何随着婴儿发育而变化的检查有限。在这项研究中，我们将数学模型应用于来自不同年龄的棉鼠和雪貂的数据，以评估病毒动力学参数如何随着动物年龄的增长而变化。随着动物年龄的增长，我们发现病毒衰变率、感染时间和基本繁殖数没有明显的趋势。我们讨论了无效结果的可能原因，包括数据有限、数学模型缺乏细节、