TAMPA, Fla. — As a parent to a 4-year-old, Rocky Harrison knows the drill—germs are a part of life.
“Especially, all the time, as soon as he gets over something, he goes back to school and comes back with something else,” said the dad.
For a lot of kids, that “something else” is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This respiratory virus can be serious for some infants and toddlers because it can cause conditions like pneumonia or bronchiolitis.
RSV usually spreads in the fall and winter months. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it causes about 1-3% of babies under a year old to be hospitalized yearly.
“That’s anywhere from one to three kids out of a hundred, which is a huge number when we’re talking about any disease,” said Dr. Lisa Cronin, a general pediatrician at Children’s Medical Center in Tampa.
RSV has kept Dr. Cronin and her staff busy over the past few years, and there wasn’t a treatment they could offer most sick patients. Soon, however, that should change.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Beyfortus, the first-ever drug to prevent RSV in babies and toddlers. Dr. Cronin considers the approval a “game changer.”
“This was really a day to celebrate for pediatricians, for parents, for teachers and daycare workers,” Dr. Cronin said. “I think it’s something that’s going to be extremely well received.”
According to the FDA, Beyfortus is a monoclonal antibody designed to be given via a single injection before or during RSV season.
Its manufacturers — AstraZeneca and Sanofi — recommend the shot for infants entering their first RSV season “and for children up to 24 months of age who remain vulnerable to severe RSV disease through their second RSV season.”
“So that may be children that have asthma or weakened immune systems or certainly any congenital heart problems,” Dr. Cronin explained.
Dr. Cronin thinks the drug’s impact will be huge and that hospitalizations will decrease.
Her question now: Will the drug be available before the upcoming RSV season?
“It usually starts to ramp up in September, and we will really see RSV at pretty high numbers all the way through to March, sometimes April,” she said.
According to ABC News, “advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet early next month to recommend exactly who should get the drug.”
