HUGE news for the world of pediatrics! If you have a newborn or grandchild under 8 months this winter I would start bugging their doc now for this!

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/03/health/rsv-infant-nirsevimab-beyfortus-acip/index.html

Thanks for sharing! Sent to a friend.

And huge news for emergency rooms across the country.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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And huge news for emergency rooms across the country.

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Has the potential to be life changing for pediatric medicine. Honestly it could cause some children's hospitals to restructure their staffing. I'm hoping they start giving it in the nursery prior to leaving the hospital. It is infinitely more important than the Hep B they give now.

Are you able to summarize the work that's gone into testing it and why we should feel comfortable with this?

As someone with a 3yr old who's had RSV, and a newborn who hopefully won't, I'm intrigued.

As someone who chose not to get the MRNA vaccine, and was fired by two doctors for not believing the science, Im hesitant.

This isn't a vaccine, it's just an antibody against RSV that has been somehow modified to be very long acting and resists breakdown for a longer period of time versus the antibodies your body produces. It would hopefully significantly brunt any RSV infection your baby gets while they develop their own antibodies against it.

There is already another antibody out there called synagis that has been used for a while if you want to look at the science, but it's far more restricted in use and doesnt have near the half life compared to this new antibody.

Pepper Brooks said:

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Are you able to summarize the work that's gone into testing it and why we should feel comfortable with this?

As someone with a 3yr old who's had RSV, and a newborn who hopefully won't, I'm intrigued.

As someone who chose not to get the MRNA vaccine, and was fired by two doctors for not believing the science, Im hesitant.

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Technical info: label (fda.gov)

Nirsevimab-alip is a recombinant human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that provides passive immunity by targeting the prefusion conformation of the RSV F protein. Nirsevimab-alip is long-acting due to a triple amino acid substitution (YTE) in the Fc region which increases binding to the neonatal Fc receptor and thereby extends serum half-life. Nirsevimab-alip binds to a conserved epitope in antigenic site on the prefusion protein with dissociation constants KD = 0.12 nM and KD = 1.22 nM for RSV subtype A and B strains, respectively; it neutralizes RSV by inhibiting conformation changes in the F protein necessary for fusion of the viral and cellular membranes and viral entry.


They did a bunch of studies all summarized on that link. This will not prevent RSV or community spread the goal is to decrease severity. Monoclonal antibodies are not a new technology they have been used for decades. This is just one specifically for RSV and lasts about 5 months. The side effect profile looked very good in the initial studies.

Thanks. I'll take a look.

Great to hear. We had some absolutely awful RSV cases this year

Bumping for thoughts on this. I've got an almost 7 month old. He's a hearty kid, ~80th percentile in weight and height as of his last visit. He's in daycare with a 2yo big brother at home so he's already had several rounds of various sniffles and bugs. Our pediatrician is holding the meds for younger kids and high risk ones so we'll have to call around to find the rsv vax. Also unsure if insurance is going to pay or if we'll be out of pocket for the cost. Wondering what the brain trust here would do in my position? Tia!

I went ahead and gave it to my 5mo old after doing some research/talking with our pediatrician. FWIW.

My nephew is 10-11 weeks and had RSV + croup and it was touch and go for a day or two. A steroid shot did wonders but they're close to two weeks out and he still sleeps elevated and gets steam/showers everyday.