This short series on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a collaboration between Contemporary Pediatrics, Contagion, and Contemporary OB/GYN. Check back every week for additional stories and interviews with clinicians and key RSV stakeholders.
Takeaways
- RSV tools like nirsevimab and RSVpreF are significant for controlling severe RSV disease.
- Some initial hesitancy exists regarding RSVpreF and nirsevimab, but overall interest is positive.
- The availability of RSV products is not an issue, but insurance coverage remains uncertain.
- Optimism surrounds the efficacy of these tools for protecting high-risk individuals.
- Current trends indicate an uptick in COVID-19, sporadic flu, and anticipation of a severe flu and RSV season, emphasizing the importance of vaccination for eligible patients.
Tina Tan, MD, FAAP, FIDSA, FPIDS, editor in chief, Contemporary Pediatrics, professor of pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, pediatric infectious diseases attending, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, highlights the importance of newly-approved tools to fight against RSV disease in infants. Tan also discusses the sense of optimism surrounding these tools and what she has noticed regarding vaccine hesitancy.
This interview is part 3 of a 3-part series highlighting RSV ahead of the traditional RSV season. Click here for part 1, click here for part 2.
Interview transcript (edited for clarity):
Contemporary Pediatrics:
Can you summarize how important the new RSV tools are, in nirsevimab (Beyfortus; Sanofi and AstraZeneca) and RSVpreF (Abrysvo; Pfizer), ahead of the traditional RSV season?
Tina Tan, MD, FAAP, FIDSA, FPIDS:
The availability of RSV vaccines for pregnant women and the monoclonal antibody for infants is going to be a huge game-changer, if people use it, in our ability to control severe RSV disease and decrease the amount of hospitalizations that occur with severe RSV disease.
Contemporary Pediatrics:
Can you talk about hesitancy that could be associated with RSVpreF and nirsevimab?
Tan:
On the positive note, people have been very, very accepting of the monoclonal antibody, and we've had mothers ask when the antibody is going to be available, because they want to protect their children against RSV. Similarly, I've heard from some of the obgyn colleagues that they do have women that are asking when they are able to get the RSV vaccine. Many of the obgyns were waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to come out with recommendations which they did, basically stating that women between 32 and 36 weeks gestation, should be getting the RSV vaccine. Similarly, there was a question about if a child's mom or if an infant's mom received the vaccine, "what do you do about administering nirsevimab?" The CDC came out with the recommendation that all infants under 8 months of age going into the first RSV season should receive nirsevimab if their mom has not received the vaccine, or if mom's vaccine status is unknown, or if they were born on less than 2 weeks after mom received the vaccine. I think for this particular vaccine (RSVpreF), there's been a lot of positivity with regards to people being very interested in receiving it to protect themselves and their infants.
