🦠 US Officials Restrict RSV Shots: New guidelines announced last week by US officials recommend RSV shots only for high-risk babies, a departure from previous universal recommendations. This decision, led by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., limits access to a vaccine previously available to all infants.

📈 Evidence Shows Dramatic Hospitalization Reduction: Four studies in Jama confirm that RSV shots significantly reduce hospitalizations. Doctors like Richard Rupp report a visible decrease in severe illness among babies who received the shots, leading to concerns that restrictions will cause hospitalizations to surge again.

👶 RSV Shot Efficacy and Safety: The RSV shot for newborns is 81% effective at preventing hospitalization, and the vaccine given during pregnancy is 70% effective. A third study indicated the infant shot prevents hospitalization from all lower-respiratory infections. A fourth study found the vaccines are safe to give during pregnancy. Prior to these shots, 2-3% of US babies were hospitalized with RSV, making it the most common reason for hospitalization in children under five.

🤔 Expert Concerns Over Decision Basis: Experts like Kevin Ault call the decision "made by political appointees without a scientific basis." There are concerns that access could be further eroded due to healthcare fragmentation and uncertainty about insurance coverage, particularly for the Vaccines for Children program.

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Newborns immunized against RSV also had a 36% lower risk of invasive pneumococcal disease.

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👶 A new French study suggests nirsevimab (Beyfortus), an injection approved to prevent RSV in newborns, may also reduce the risk of invasive pneumococcal disease by 36%.

📊 The study analyzed nearly 530,000 babies born between Feb. 6, 2023, and Jan. 31, 2024. Those who received nirsevimab were less likely to be hospitalized for invasive pneumococcal disease, with 14.2 per 100,000 developing it compared to 23.3 per 100,000 unvaccinated infants.

⏳ The protective effect of nirsevimab against invasive pneumococcal disease lasted at least nine months, and no deaths were reported among immunized newborns in the study, while six non-immunized infants died.

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👶 New immunization for infants dramatically reduced ICU admissions by 97% due to RSV.

📈 The study, published in JAMA Network Open and led by the SPRINT-KIDS Network, evaluated nirsevimab's effectiveness in Ontario and Quebec during the 2024-2025 RSV season.

📊 Nirsevimab demonstrated 79% effectiveness against RSV hospitalizations and 97% against ICU admissions.

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Meta-analysis finds maternal RSV vaccination was 73.6% effective against hospitalization in infants under 6 months, but only 27.1% of 1.3 million US pregnancies were vaccinated in the 2023/24 season

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Three years after a single RSV vaccination, 60+ year olds were still around 60% less likely to be hospitalized with RSV, down from about 81% in year one; protection against lower respiratory infections fell from 80% to 51% (not significant)

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