A potential new antibody treatment for babies could reduce hospital admissions related to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by over 80%, according to recent research. RSV usually causes mild cold-like symptoms but can lead to bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and results in between 20 and 30 deaths each year in the UK. More than 30,000 under-fives currently require hospital treatment for the virus annually. The monoclonal antibody treatment nirsevimab was used in a clinical trial, involving 8,000 children up to the age of 12 months in the UK, France and Germany. The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed an 83% reduction in RSV-related hospitalisation and a 58% drop in admissions for all chest infections among those given the treatment.
Produced by Sanofi, nirsevimab was licensed for use in the UK last year, and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is currently considering whether to recommend its use for infants. The JCVI is also analysing data on an RSV vaccine given to pregnant women. Unlike a vaccine, nirsevimab provides immediate protection, rather than working by prompting the body to create antibodies.
Parents whose children have suffered from RSV report the illness as “very scary”. Lorna and Russell Smith’s eldest son, Caolan, contracted the virus when he was eight months old and required hospital treatment twice. “It brought a lot of anxiety and stress”, Lorna said. The family now hope that their one-month-old Rian will be able to receive the new treatment if it is approved.
Prof Saul Faust, co-study leader at the University of Southampton and a consultant paediatrician, called the trial results “really important information” for the UK’s plans for any future RSV immunisation programmes, stating that the antibody “could protect thousands of babies from hospitalisation when used in conditions similar to routine clinical practice”
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