MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — After a rough RSV season last winter, doctors and nurses at St. Luke's University Health Network have been preparing for this year.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that can impact anyone but can severely affect young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It's the most common cause of hospitalizations in infants who are 1 year or less. And last year was a particularly bad season in that all of our hospitals were full of children under the age of 1 year who had significant disease caused by RSV," said Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, senior vice president of medical and academic affairs at St. Luke's near Bartonsville.
Dr. Jahre hopes things will be better this year, thanks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of two vaccines.
One of those vaccines is Beyfortus, a monoclonal antibody for young babies.
"It is given the muscle route at the beginning of the RSV season for children who are under the age of 8 months. It can be given in the later group if they are very high risk."
The other is called Abrysvo and is for women between 32 to 36 weeks of pregnancy.
"Although it won't prevent mild symptoms in young children or babies, it will go a long way in preventing the serious consequences, and here we're talking about again pneumonia, hospitalization, and serious bronchiolitis."
Once Abrysvo is on the market, the FDA will require the drug maker to conduct more studies to look at the risks of pre-term birth and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Dr. Jahre says you should talk with your pediatrician or obstetrician about any vaccine for you or your children.
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