The Centers for Disease Control is recommending a new vaccine to prevent the respiratory virus RSV in infants under eight months.
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics pediatrician, Adam Brown, says the shot is possibly one of the biggest breakthroughs in pediatric medicine in the past two decades. “Looks like some of the recent research has showed that up to up to 75% benefit in prevention of hospitalizations and 90% effective in preventing ICU admissions, which is absolutely fantastic, absolutely amazing,” Brown says.
He says the shot should be given in the fall, and it would take effect immediately. “There’s no wait time for your child’s body to develop antibodies, it happens immediately. And the coverage of the injection looks like five to six months of coverage. Well guess what? That’ll cover us during the RSV season,” he says.
Brown says it’s hard to predict when the shot will be available, but it’s likely it will be sometime this fall.
(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)