The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a health alert that the antibody treatment used to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is in short supply.
The alert was issued last week due to demand for the treatment outpacing supply.
Doctors in Connecticut said they’ve noticed an uptick in patients with RSV in recent weeks.
“We are seeing an increase in RSV hospitalizations at the Children’s Hospital over the last few weeks. Last week, we had, at one point, up to eight children hospitalized on a given day with RSV,” said Dr. Tom Murray, medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Children's Hospital.
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“We were very hopeful, and are hopeful, that the RSV monoclonal antibody, or Beyfortus, would be available to everyone to really help reduce the number of babies that require hospitalization, but unfortunately, the CDC has issued a notice that there is a shortage of that antibody, so we’ve had to ration based on the highest risk,” Murray continued.
He said only newborns are getting the treatment now.
“It is currently recommended for every baby born during RSV season, so I don’t know how many babies that is,” Murray said, “but it certainly is a lot of babies that are going to be born in the US and every one of them is eligible.”
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Parents were concerned to hear of the shortage, but weren’t surprised.
“I feel like we went through the whole scare,” said Tiffany Guaba of Burlington. “I had two kids with ear infections last year and we had the penicillin shortage, and that was a nightmare. I had to call four different pharmacies just to find that for my youngest kid with an ear infection. That was scary.”
Guaba said a shortage like this shouldn’t happen in the United States.
“Figure it out. This should not be happening in the U.S. Not at all, especially for a mother who’s gotta worry about a million other things in their children, medicine should not be one of them,” Guaba said.
Murray recommends that pregnant women get the RSV vaccine to protect their newborns, and adults get vaccinated, too, especially if around young children.
He added that handwashing is important, and masking can help, too, along with keeping sick children at home.
“Avoiding other sick children as much as possible, which for working parents can be very, very difficult, but when your child is sick, if able, to keep them home, having a backup plan when they can’t go to childcare is always a good idea,” Murray said.
