Far fewer babies went to the hospital struggling to breathe from RSV, a severe respiratory infection, after the debut of a new vaccine and treatment this season, according to an analysis published today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
RSV, or respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) virus, is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants in the US. An estimated 58,000–80,000 children younger than 5 years old are hospitalized each year. Newborns—babies between 0 and 2 months—are the most at risk of being hospitalized with RSV. The virus circulates seasonally, typically rising in the fall and peaking in the winter, like many other respiratory infections.
But the 2024–2025 season was different—there were two new ways to protect against the infection. One is a maternal vaccine, Pfizer's Abrysvo, which is given to pregnant people when their third trimester aligns with RSV season (generally September through January). Maternal antibodies generated from the vaccination pass to the fetus in the uterus and can protect a newborn in the first few months of life. The other new protection against RSV is a long-acting monoclonal antibody treatment, nirsevimab, which is given to babies under 8 months old as they enter or are born into their first RSV season and may not be protected by maternal antibodies. //
Lastly, the researchers looked at hospitalization rates for toddlers and children up to 5 years old, who wouldn't have been protected by the new products. There, they saw RSV hospitalization rates were actually higher in the 2024–2025 season than in the pre-pandemic years. That suggests that the latest RSV season was more severe, and the drops in infant hospitalizations may be underestimates. //
ChasNC Smack-Fu Master, in training
1y
9
For some reason, the news has not followed the recent findings that early vaccinations in life dramatically lowers dementia risk, as well as Alzheimer's. The largest study that I saw was done in Finland where they used the data of the entire country. In that study, they found that respiratory vaccines seem to have the strongest impact (like this story here about RSV). Here is another paper:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08800-x
They don't know the actual cause of the improvements, but one paper I saw said that they believe that since viruses damage DNA, there are long term effects of early lifetime DNA damage. The body's DNA repair or cell culling cannot keep up with all of the viral damage. Another scientist also pondered if vaccinations would also have another beneficial side effect of reducing cancer. Same idea: reduced DNA damage.
