2023-12-16 14:01:04
BarcelonaThe campaign to immunize newborns against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is already being felt. According to data made public this Saturday by the Department of Health, vaccination has reduced emergency room visits for bronchiolitis among babies under six months by 77%. Specifically, between the month of October and the second week of December – the first 10 weeks of the epidemiological season -, the hospitals of the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) treated 258 cases of RSV bronchiolitis in children less than 6 months old, while during these same weeks last year the number climbed to 1,118 cases. Hospitalizations have also dropped by 84.5% – from 502 in 2022 to just 78 now – a similar decline to that of ICU admissions, which have gone from 191 to 24, 87.4% less.
Bronchiolitis is a frequent respiratory infection in children under two years of age, especially during the cold months of the year, and is one of the main causes of hospitalization. Now Health puts data on this decline in cases. Last week, the ARA explained that more than 80% of babies had already been vaccinated and that this had softened the impact of this disease on the health system. Now Salut updates the data and points out that in the two and a half months since the vaccination campaign began, 83.4% of babies have been immunized. Although it does not prevent infection, immunization does reduce the chance of complications if you develop a respiratory infection.
For the current vaccination campaign, which began in October, Salut has distributed 65,000 doses to pediatric primary care centers and hospitals in Catalonia. The entire batch has cost 14.1 million euros, an investment that Salut hopes will be compensated so that the drop in cases contributes to not saturating the system. In fact, according to data from the department, last year the 7,523 bronchiolitis diagnosed among children under the age of one resulted in 1,058 hospitalizations with an approximate cost of more than 18 million.
The role of niversimab
The particularity of this treatment – which, in the case of those born after October, Health offers families the vaccine in the first 24 or 48 hours after birth – is that it is not exactly a vaccine , because no virus is inoculated, but monoclonal antibodies are administered – niversimab – which make it difficult for the RSV to enter the cells and exponentially improve the prevention of complications associated with the virus causing bronchiolitis.
Globally, RSV is estimated to cause nearly 34 million episodes of acute lower respiratory infections in children under five years of age, accounting for around 3.4 million hospitalizations per year .
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