ATLANTA — The Center for Disease Control and Prevention made a historic announcement approving the first-of-its-kind vaccine to prevent RSV in infants. The severe respiratory illness remains the leading cause of hospitalizations in babies.
CDC Director Mandy Cohen adopted the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation for the use of nirsevimab. Known also by its trade BeyfortusTM, the long-acting monoclonal antibody product has been shown to reduce the risk of both hospitalizations and healthcare visits for RSV in infants by about 80 percent.
Nirsevimab, which was approved last month by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is administered as an injection and provides infants and toddlers with antibodies to protect against severe illness.
The shot is intended for two groups.
The first is for babies up to 8 months old entering the RSV season, and the second is for infants 8 to 19 months old who are at an increased risk of severe RSV.
Attending physician in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine Christian Rostad says the vaccine is critical as RSV season approaches.
“So it’s different from an active vaccine in that it doesn’t provide an active immune response to the product but rather provides an antibody that lasts through the whole RSV season which protects infants when they’re at their most vulnerable," explained Rostad.
The vaccination is expected to be available to families by this fall.
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