At the moment, the World Well being Group (WHO) printed its first-ever place paper on immunization merchandise to guard infants towards respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – the main reason behind acute decrease respiratory infections in kids globally.
Yearly, RSV causes about 100 000 deaths and over 3.6 million hospitalizations in kids underneath the age of 5 years worldwide. About half of those deaths happen in infants youthful than 6 months of age. The overwhelming majority (97%) of RSV deaths in infants happen in low- and middle-income nations the place there’s restricted entry to supportive medical care, equivalent to oxygen or hydration.
Printed within the Weekly Epidemiological File (WER), the place paper outlines WHO suggestions for 2 immunization merchandise: a maternal vaccine that may be given to pregnant ladies of their third trimester to guard their toddler and a long-acting monoclonal antibody that may be administered to infants from beginning, simply earlier than or in the course of the RSV season.
RSV is an extremely infectious virus that infects folks of all ages, however is particularly dangerous to infants, significantly these born untimely, when they’re most weak to extreme illness. The WHO-recommended RSV immunization merchandise can remodel the battle towards extreme RSV illness, dramatically cut back hospitalizations, and deaths, finally saving many toddler lives globally.”
Dr. Kate O’Brien, Director of Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals at WHO
RSV often causes gentle signs much like the frequent chilly, together with runny nostril, cough and fever. Nevertheless, it may well result in severe issues – together with pneumonia and bronchiolitis – in infants, younger kids, older adults and people with compromised immune methods or underlying well being situations.
Two immunization merchandise to guard towards RSV
In response to the worldwide burden of extreme RSV illness amongst infants, WHO recommends that each one nations introduce both the maternal vaccine, RSVpreF, or the monoclonal antibody, nirsevimab relying on the feasibility of implementation inside every nation’s present well being system, cost-effectiveness and anticipated protection. Each merchandise had been really useful by the Strategic Advisory Group of Specialists on Immunization (SAGE) for world implementation in September 2024. As well as, the maternal vaccine acquired WHO prequalification in March 2025, permitting it to be bought by UN companies.
WHO recommends that the maternal vaccine be given to pregnant ladies in the course of the third trimester of being pregnant, from week 28 onwards, to optimize for the sufficient switch of antibodies to their child. The vaccine could also be given throughout routine antenatal care, together with at one of many 5 WHO-recommended antenatal care visits within the third trimester or any further medical consultations.
The second WHO-recommended immunization product, nirsevimab, is given as a single injection of monoclonal antibodies that begins defending infants towards RSV inside per week of administration and lasts for at the least 5 months, which may cowl all the RSV season in nations with RSV seasonality.
WHO recommends that infants obtain a single dose of nirsevimab proper after beginning or earlier than being discharged from a birthing facility. If not administered at beginning, the monoclonal antibody could be given in the course of the child’s first well being go to. If a rustic decides to manage the product solely in the course of the RSV season reasonably than year-round, a single dose may also be given to older infants simply earlier than getting into their first RSV season.
The best affect on extreme RSV illness shall be achieved by administering the monoclonal antibody to infants underneath 6 months of age. Nevertheless, there’s nonetheless a possible profit amongst infants as much as 12 months of age.
WHO often points up to date place papers on vaccines, combos of vaccines and different immunization merchandise towards illnesses which have main public well being affect. These papers focus totally on using vaccines in large-scale vaccination programmes. The brand new place paper goals to tell nationwide public well being policymakers and immunization programme managers on using RSV immunization merchandise of their nationwide programmes, in addition to nationwide and worldwide funding companies.
Supply:
