The New RSV Drug Keeps Babies Out of the Hospital

Doctors and parents celebrated the major advances that came in 2023 to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which sends up to 80,000 children under age five to the hospital each year in the U.S. This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two critical ways to reduce the risk of RSV in young kids: a vaccine for pregnant mothers that can protect newborns, and a drug treatment for babies under one year. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers report encouraging real-world data that show how effective the drug treatment, nirsevimab (brand name: Beyfortus), can be. The study, which was funded by the drug’s makers Sanofi and AstraZeneca, included more than 8,000 infants in France, Germany, and the U.K. who were one year old or younger and entering their first RSV season, which runs from fall to spring. Nivrsevimab is a monoclonal antibody that acts almost like a vaccine, training a child’s immune system to recognize RSV and defend against it. Half of the babies in the study were randomly assigned to receive nirsevimab, and half received no treatment. The drug was 83% effective in preventing hospitalization among those getting it, and 75% effective in reducing severe RSV. These results were similar regardless of the baby’s age, gestational age, or sex. “From a scientific point of view, it’s fantastic that were able to prevent more than 80% of children ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Source Type: news