A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows there was a substantial drop in hospitalizations for respiratory syncytial virus this winter among very young children, who are at the highest risk of becoming severely ill if they contract RSV.
This past winter was the first during which new options for protecting babies from the virus became widely available in the United States, though the products were first introduced in a limited way in advance of the 2023-2024 season.
The study, published in the CDC’s online journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, cannot prove that the new tools are the reason for the drop in hospitalizations among children under 7 months old, the age group targeted for these interventions. But a rise in hospitalizations among slightly older children — still at risk but too old to be eligible for the products — shows the decline occurred in the context of a severe RSV season.
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