As RSV cases tick up, CDC warns that a key drug to keep babies safe is in short supply
The CDC issued an alert to doctors about a shortage of certain doses of an RSV antibody drug Beyfortus given to newborns and infants to prevent RSV. Certain dosages are limited.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted doctors nationwide Monday about a limited availability of certain doses of a newly approved antibody drug given to infants to prevent RSV infection.
Cases of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, have started to rise as cold and flu season begins.
"RSV season is here," said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. "We are seeing a substantial increase in the amount of RSV such that in many areas, it has become the most commonly identified respiratory virus causing disease in children.
"This is one of the reasons why there's probably a lot of scrambling going on," he said, "to identify those babies at highest risk and to try to prioritize them, since it's such a limited resource right now."
The Food and Drug Administration approved the antibody drug, called Beyfortus, in July. It is not a vaccine, but it acts similarly to one: Instead of prompting the immune system to develop its own antibodies to RSV, it delivers antibodies directly to the blood via injection.
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