Study design
This is a retrospective cohort study conducted at Soroka University Medical Center (SUMC), a tertiary hospital in southern Israel where approximately 450 children are hospitalized annually due to RSV bronchiolitis, many of whom undergo initial workup, including CRP levels. Clinical, demographic, and laboratory data were extracted from Clalit Health Services (CHS) electronic medical records using Clalit’s Data sharing platform powered by MD-clone (www.mdclone.com). The institution’s computational unit extracted data on mechanical ventilation, oxygen supply, and oxygen saturation of the enrolled patients. The study protocol was approved by the local ethical review board of SUMC (0296-21-SOR).