RSV vaccine cuts infant ICU admissions by up to 80 percent

This season, only 22 infants with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) have required intensive care, a sharp drop from the historical average of 200, representing a decline of between 66 and 80 percent, the Volkskrant reported. The drop is linked to the introduction of the new RSV vaccine, which has been available since September, and temporarily equips infants with protective antibodies.

Over the last two weeks, just six infants required hospital admission, a significant decrease from 41 in the same timeframe last year. At the children’s intensive care unit at the Amsterdam UMC hospital, three out of four of the most recently admitted RSV patients were unvaccinated.

The infection is the most common cold virus affecting young children, health institute RIVM said in 2023. The viral infection causes the second-highest number of annual infant deaths globally, trailing malaria, and has been attributed to seasonal epidemics in the Netherlands year after year.

The reduced level of patients in intensive care units this year is remarkable. “It is a historic Christmas for pediatrics,” said Joanne Wildenbeest, pediatrician and infection expert at UMC Utrecht. While the vaccine is likely a factor, UMC Utrecht doctors are continuing formal research into the direct causal relationship.

The RIVM plans to release figures in the spring on how many parents chose to vaccinate, though demand seems very strong. Five years ago, medical experts predicted the introduction of an RSV vaccine would be a game changer.

In the past, infants frequently had to be moved by ambulance to find available ICU beds, but that strain has mostly disappeared. Thanks to a drop in RSV cases, planned procedures, like pediatric heart surgeries, are now less likely to be delayed.

“We frequently had to transport babies by ambulance across the country,” said Job van Woensel, professor of pediatric intensive care, in a statement to the Volkskrant. “Now that the RSV burden is much reduced, it makes managing care far easier.”

Following the introduction of the vaccine, hospital admissions in Belgium, France, and Spain declined. In France alone, approximately 6,000 admissions were avoided during the first winter.

Even with fewer RSV cases, children’s ICUs remain heavily occupied by other severely ill patients, with roughly 4,000 admissions each year.