The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned doctors on Tuesday about a warning about the rise in the severity of cases of RSV among children as young as Florida and Georgia.
Regional increases usually signal the start of RSV season across the country, the CDC said in its advice, “with increased RSV activity spreading north and west over the following 2-3 months.”
The increase in late summer indicates that RSV, also known as respiratory syncytialvirus, is regressing into the typical seasonal pattern following many years of viral activity that was unusually early because of the pandemic.
According to the CDC, from August. 5 to August. 19, the number of hospitalizations due to RSV increased from 2 per 100,000 children aged four and under up to seven per 100,000. Most of the hospitalizations were for babies younger than one-year-old.
Each year RSV infection causes about two million doctor visits and 80,000 hospitalizations, and the possibility of 300 or more deaths among infants under five years old as per the CDC.
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The CDC recommended doctors be prepared for new RSV shots for children in the early years that will help to stop the respiratory infection. Beyfortus or nirsevimab is an antibody monoclonal that is approved for all babies under the age of 8 months. Children who are at a high danger of RSV complications, for example those with severe immunocompromised are likely to receive a second shot for up to one year and one-half.
Beyfortus isn’t anticipated to be released until the beginning of October, but.
Last month in the month of September, The Food and Drug Administration approved the RSV vaccine that is given to pregnant women to provide baby protection for the first six months of their life.
The Food and Drug Administration plans to approve new versions of Covid boosters by Friday according to four sources familiar with the agency’s plans.
The most recent shots are targeted to the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant. While this strain is no longer the dominant one but the boosters will guard against the current subvariants in circulation and are connected, drug makers and experts believe.
The timetable for authorization for Friday isn’t set in stone and could shift into the beginning of next week, two the sources told.
This could lead to more criticism from certain medical professionals who claim that federal health authorities are moving too slowly with the booster rollout, as the number of hospitalizations and Covid cases are rising once more..
Two sources have indicated that the FDA is looking into possibilities of granting boosters a complete approval license rather than an urgent authorization, a different approach from the method used for prior Covid vaccination authorizations. However, it isn’t clear whether this is actually the desired course of action.