Two Hamilton-area hospitals are opening clinics this fall for infants to obtain a brand new medication to stop respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Subsequent Monday, the clinics will open in McMaster Kids’s Hospital in Hamilton and West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby, Ont., simply southeast of Hamilton, the place the monoclonal antibody nirsevimab might be offered to eligible infants.
This season would be the first time in Ontario that nirsevimab (offered below the model identify Beyfortus) is used to shield infants from extreme sickness attributable to RSV, mentioned a information launch from Hamilton Well being Sciences, which runs the clinics.
Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, an infectious illness specialist at McMaster, advised CBC’s Recent Air the antibody shot might be a “sport changer.”
“The information Ontario has entry to new RSV-prevention merchandise could be very, very thrilling and ought to be prime of thoughts for any household with a younger child,” he mentioned.
Treatment prevents extreme sickness
The extremely contagious virus is a number one reason behind hospitalization for infants and younger youngsters. RSV usually causes cold-like signs however also can result in pneumonia and bronchiolitis — a swelling of the small airway passages within the lungs.
Nirsevimab accommodates pre-formed antibodies that assist shield infants for about eight months, Pernica mentioned. It would not include a reside virus and subsequently is not thought-about a vaccine.
“That method if a child will get contaminated with RSV, the antibody can mop it up and in that method it prevents extreme illnesses,” mentioned Pernica.
Infants born in 2024 are eligible to obtain the shot at one of many clinics without charge, Hamilton Well being Sciences mentioned. Infants older than one 12 months who’ve high-risk medical circumstances might also be eligible.
This illustration offered by AstraZeneca depicts packaging for his or her remedy Beyfortus, the model identify for the antibody remedy nirsevimab. (AstraZeneca/The Related Press)
Infants born between now and March 2025 might be provided it quickly after beginning, earlier than going house from the hospital in each the Hamilton and Niagara areas.
Niagara Well being can also be advising residents with eligible infants to go to their household physician or walk-in clinics to obtain a dose.
The Ministry of Well being introduced earlier this 12 months it might cowl the price of nirsevimab for infants after hospitals skilled a surge of RSV circumstances in current winters.
Final winter, 131 youngsters below the age of two had been admitted to Niagara-area hospitals with RSV, in comparison with nearly no circumstances through the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Niagara Well being mentioned in a information launch.
In current medical trials, nirsevimab decreased hospitalizations by 80 per cent, “which is truthfully superb,” mentioned Pernica.
