by Camalot Todd, Nevada Current
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved the first Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) drug, Beyfortus (nirsevimab-alip), for all infants and children up to 2 years old after a particularly rough RSV season in the nation and Nevada.
Surveillance for RSV showed “unusually high” incidences in Nevada this past season compared to the previous four years, according to the state Department of Health technical briefing.
RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants in the country with approximately 1% to 3% of children under 12 months of age in the U.S. hospitalized each year due to RSV, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
For most of the country, including in Nevada, RSV circulation is seasonal starting during the fall and peaking in winter, and is transmitted from person to person through close contact.
Beyfortus, an antibody shot developed jointly by Sanofi, a French multinational pharmaceutical company and AstraZeneca, a U.K. global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, received a fast track designation, a process designed to expedite the development and review of drugs to treat severe conditions and fill an unmet medical need.
“RSV can cause serious disease in infants and some children and results in a large number of emergency department and physician office visits each year,” said John Farley, the director of the Office of Infectious Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a press release.
RSV impacts all age groups, and while most infants and young children experience mild, cold-like symptoms, some infants can develop pneumonia and bronchiolitis, often leading to an emergency department or physician’s office visit.
Infants with chronic lung diseases, congenital heart disease, or who are born prematurely are at a higher risk for severe cases of RSV.
Clark County recorded two deaths from RSV last year, but no deaths so far this year, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
Side effects of the new drug include severe hypersensitivity reactions like anaphylaxis.
The FDA approved the first RSV shot for older adults in May.
