12th March 2024: New RSV Antibody treatment for babies has been reported highly effective in the first season according to the first go-through of the data from four children’s hospitals.
Babies who received the new preventive treatment for RSV shortly after birth were 90% less likely to be severely sickened with potentially deadly respiratory diseases according to the new estimate published by the CDC the data is first the real-world evaluation of Beyfortus ( generic name is Nirsavimab-clip) that was approved by FDA last July.
What is RSV?
Respiratory Syncytial Virus is a seasonal illness that affects particularly infants and elderly people in the fall and winter. Symptoms of this illness are usually mild in healthy adults but infants are at risk of getting bronchiolitis which causes exhaustion, coughing, and wheezing in babies due to swelling of their airways and lungs. Infants who are hospitalized may need fluids and medicinal devices to help them breathe.
Most cases of RSV were noted in season Between November to January. With more than 10,000 monthly diagnoses reported by the CDC.
The new CDC analysis was conducted among 700 hospitalized babies with severe respiratory problems from October to the end of February. Among the babies chosen for the study 407 were diagnosed with RSV and 292 tested negative. The researchers found that 1% of babies diagnosed with RSV have received Beyfortus while the remaining babies who tested positive did not received the vaccine.
What is Beyfortus?
It is a long-acting monoclonal antibody that prevents severe RSV disease. It is an antibody that provides direct protection against RSV to recipients by passive immunization. It is a rapid-working drug with immediate action within an hour of receiving the drug. Nirsavimab-alip is a long-acting drug with triple amino acid substitutions which is designed to recognise and attach to the F- protein on RSV. Locking the RSV F protein in pre-fusion confirmation results in blocking the viral entry into the host cell.
Among the babies hospitalized for other severe respiratory problems, 18% have received Beyfortus. Overall just 59 babies among 700 affected have received Beyfortus, perhaps reflecting the short supply of medicine. It was noted that the babies who received Beyfortus also have a probability of high-risk medical conditions.
The number of babies nationwide who received Beyfortus in the first season of availability is unclear. But a January CDC survey shows that 4 out of 10 parents said that their babies under 8 months have received the treatment. It was reported that the shortage of medicine last fall resulted from underestimated demand and from production plans that were set before the CDC recommended that all infants under 8 months receive Beyfortus if their mothers did not receive any maternal vaccine for protection of infants from RSV.
