2023-05-05 19:37:13
“It affects all children in a very democratic way, regardless of their previous health conditions: for the respiratory syncytial virus there are no categories at risk. This is why it is important to protect everyone. If we look at the little patients hospitalized due to RSV infection, they are perfectly healthy children, their only problem is being very small. Our job is to protect them all.” She said it Chiara Azzari, full professor of Pediatrics at the Meyer Children’s Hospital in Florenceon the sidelines of the 56th national congress of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health (Siti) which closes today in Rome.
“The weapons being studied in companies against the respiratory syncytial virus are various – says the expert who is also an immunologist – from vaccines for children, to vaccines for pregnant mothers so that they can transmit the antibodies to children, up to monoclonal antibodies. The latter are ready-made antibodies, ready and can be administered to children. But if we think that the vast majority of children fall ill under three months of age, we already understand that it is difficult to be able to protect them by subjecting them to vaccination. We have to give them ready-made antibodies, which is why monoclonals are the best choice: we can administer them at the beginning of the virus season, we can give them to all the children and we don’t need the time that the vaccine would require to develop a little of immunity”.
”Europe has recently approved one of these monoclonal antibodies – concludes Azzari – the first we will have available is called nirsevimab, a monoclonal that can be administered to all children with one dose and which protects them throughout the respiratory virus season syncitial. For example, it is administered in October and the child is protected until April”.
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