Childs A, Zullo AR, Joyce NR, et al. - Researchers analyzed relevant articles from PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library to evaluate the burden of respiratory infections in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). For eligibility, they screened 1,451 articles, selected 345 for full-text review, and included 26 in this review. The range of mean ages of participants was from 70.8 to 90.1 years. Estimates of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and pneumonia were reported in 3 (12%), 7 (27%), and in 16 (62%) studies, respectively. For respiratory infection incidence estimates and for prevalence estimates, the reported range was from 1.1 to 85.2% and from 1.4 to 55.8%, respectively in these studies. They found that influenza incidences ranged from 5.9 to 85.2%. Overall, the analyzed published studies showed a wide variation with regard to incidence and prevalence estimates of respiratory infections among older LTCF residents. As far as decision-making to lower respiratory infection burden was concerned, little useful guidance was gained via a wide range of estimates.