Antibody shot Nirsevimab prevents hospitalizations in infants with RSV

Editor's Note

The antibody shot Nirsevimab can protect infants from hospitalization from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The results from the new clinical trial were published December 28 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Affecting two of three children in their first year of life, RSV causes seasonal infection and, in some cases, a severe illness known as lower respiratory tract disease. An estimated 58,000 to 80,000 children younger than 5 are hospitalized with RSV in the U.S., making the virus the leading cause of hospitalization in infants.

For the study, researchers gave infants across the UK, France, and Germany either a single injection with nirsevimab (4,037 infants) or standard care (i.e., no intervention; 4,021 infants) before or during their first RSV season. Administering nirsevimab to infants with RSV-associated lower respiratory tract infections prevented hospitalizations by over 80%. Just 0.3% of nirsevimab-treated infants were hospitalized, compared to 1.5% of infants in the standard care group.

Researchers also found that the antibody was highly effective (75.7%) in preventing severe RSV-associated lower respiratory tract infections.