Parents of young ones are fully aware of a triple threat of respiratory viruses circulating as the winter approaches. Namely, the flu, COVID-19, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV; Pfizer recently announced that they now have enough data on both the safety and efficacy of an RSV vaccine to protect infants. Adding that kids ages six months and up are now eligible for vaccines that provide strong protection against severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death from the flu and COVID-19.
Pfizer now also plans to submit its data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval by the end of the year; Dr. Sarah Pachtman, M.D., the associate director of maternal/fetal medicine, inpatient services at Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center says that RSV usually presents as flu-like symptoms.
Dr. Jennifer L. Lighter, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease specialist with NYU Langone Health says that most kids sustain the virus before they are two, however, it appears to be riskier to infants, premature babies, and kids with heart and lung disease. In fact, between 58,000 and 80,000 kids below 5 years old are hospitalized with RSV annually, and 100-300 die, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates.
How the RSV vaccine effectively protects infants?
Dr. Lighter added that the United States needs a universal vaccine at this point as there is crucial morbidity in the U.S. and worldwide. Pfizer, on the other hand, believes the best option. According to the data released on Tuesday by the company, its RSV vaccine was 82 percent effective in preventing hospitalization in infants younger than 90 days old and 69 percent for infants under six months old when given to pregnant people.
The trial entails giving the vaccine to 7,400 pregnant individuals in their late second or third trimesters in 18 countries across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Dr. Pachtman compared such to the t-DAP vaccine which she believes is similar as it involves giving such medication to pregnant people in their third trimester and eventually provides protection against whooping cough for the newborn until they can finally get their shot around eight weeks of life.
Dr. Ofer Levy, director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children's Hospital, told NBC News that the results of the Pfizer RSV vaccine for newborns including kids sound very promising. However, noted that he couldn't draw any solid conclusions as the results were yet to be announced in a news release and added that he hasn't seen the full data. Emphasizing that many vaccines do not achieve such, thus, Pfizer's RSV vaccine is a very respectable level of efficacy and people would surely benefit from it particularly pregnant people and kids.
Respiratory syncytial virus puts many babies in the hospital
Dr. Céline Gounder, a senior fellow at KFF, formerly known as Kaiser Family Foundation, and an infectious diseases specialist, says that the vaccine's effectiveness appears to wane over time, thus, if Pfizer is certain that their RSV vaccine is effective, then it could prevent a lot of hospitalizations and deaths in such age group.
Given the fact that RSV puts many babies in the hospital, a vaccine that would surely prevent severe disease 70 percent of the time until the age of six months is beyond a great idea; Moreover, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, agreed that the vaccine would be helpful in almost all families, particularly those with babies as well as those pregnant ones.
Adding that he can imagine thousands of parents that won't experience the agony and distress of having their baby hospitalized if there were a specialized vaccine for RSV.
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