CDC recommends RSV shot that protects babies from illness

A new antibody injection can protect infants up to 19 months old from RSV. All babies under 8 months old and some older infants should get it, the CDC said.

All babies under 8 months old and some older infants should get an injectable RSV drug starting this fall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An advisory committee to the CDC voted unanimously on Thursday afternoon to recommend the injection, then CDC Director Mandy Cohen formally endorsed that recommendation, thereby allowing the drug to be distributed to the public.

The shot is intended for two groups: The first is babies up to 8 months old who are born during or entering their first respiratory syncytial virus season, which typically starts around October. The second is infants between 8 and 19 months who are at increased risk of severe RSV disease and entering their second RSV season.

Newborns born shortly before or during RSV season should get the shot in their first week of life, the committee said.

The injection, sold under the name Beyfortus, acts similarly to a vaccine, but instead of prompting the immune system to develop antibodies to the virus — what’s known as “active immunization” — it delivers the antibodies directly to the bloodstream via so-called passive immunization.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-advisors-recommend-rsv-shot-protect-babies-rcna97998

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