Reduction in 2024-2025 RSV-associated hospitalization rates seen among infants aged 0 to 7 months with maternal vaccination or nirsevimab
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, May 13, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination and nirsevimab were associated with a reduction in RSV-associated hospitalization rates among infants aged 0 to 7 months during the 2024-2025 RSV season, the first season that the maternal vaccine and nirsevimab were widely available, according to research published in the May 8 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Monica E. Patton, M.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the RSV-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RSV-NET) and New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN) to examine the association between availability of maternal RSV vaccine and nirsevimab and infant and child RSV-associated hospitalization rates by comparing the rates among children aged younger than 5 years for the 2024-2025 and 2018-2020 RSV seasons.
The researchers found that compared with 2018-2020 pooled rates, 2024-2025 RSV-associated hospitalization rates were lower among infants aged 0 to 7 months (eligible for protection with maternal vaccination or nirsevimab; estimated rate reductions of 43 and 28 percent for RSV-NET and NVSN, respectively). Infants aged 0 to 2 months had the largest estimated rate reduction (52 and 45 percent for RSV-NET and NVSN, respectively); large reductions were also seen during peak hospitalization periods (December to February).
“These findings highlight the importance of effective annual health care planning to implement Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendations for RSV prevention products and ensure parents can protect infants as early as possible in the RSV season, either through maternal vaccination during pregnancy or infant receipt of nirsevimab,” the authors write. “For infants born during the RSV season who are not protected through maternal vaccination, nirsevimab should be administered within the first week of life, ideally during the birth hospitalization.”
Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical and medical technology industries.
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