Niversimab: CDC Introduces New RSV Preventive Shot for Infant

Based on a proposal from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all infants under 8 months old should receive a new antibody injection for protection against severe respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted Thursday overwhelmingly to endorse the injection, which will soon be added to the CDC’s childhood vaccination schedule now that CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen has approved the proposal.

In the second unanimous decision, ACIP additionally suggested that infants aged 8 to 19 months with underlying health conditions that increase their risk of hospitalization receive a second dose of nirsevimab to assist them through their second RSV season.

The vaccine is the first available product to protect infants against RSV, a virus that attacks the lungs and is the primary cause of hospitalization in children under one year old. 

Cases typically peak during the autumn and winter. Younger infants are most susceptible to the infection, which can make it hard for infants to breathe by filling their airways with mucus.

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Niversimab Recommended by CDC

Nirsevimab is not a vaccine; it is a long-acting antibody — a kind of protein that is capable of recognizing and binding RSV so that it cannot infect cells. The product will be sold under the brand name Beyfortus.

In clinical trials, injections have reduced by approximately 75% the likelihood that an infant would require hospitalization due to RSV.  It was 90% effective at preventing infants with RSV from requiring intensive care.

Nirsevimab is effective for approximately five to six months; therefore, it must be administered as close to RSV season as possible. In the United States, RSV season is typically between October and March; however, this may differ in warmer or colder climates.

The CDC recommends that neonates born during or shortly before RSV season receive a nirsevimab injection within the first week of life. According to the CDC, infants younger than 8 months of age who have not received a vaccination should do so shortly before RSV season.

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Source: CNN