Loading...
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of respiratory illness–related hospitalization in infants, and preterm infants are especially vulnerable. Current RSV prevention is focused solely on the highest-risk preterm infants and consists of a monthly series of doses of palivizumab, an RSV-specific immune globulin G, through the RSV winter season (November to March). Results of an industry-funded, phase IIb clinical trial of a new recombinant human antibody with an extended half-life, nirsevimab, are now available.
From November 2016 through November 2017, 1453 preterm infants (gestational age between 29 weeks, 0 days and 34 weeks, 6 days) were randomized to receive a single intramuscular dose of nirsevimab (50 mg) or saline plac…