RSV season is upon us.
The most common reason infants are hospitalized in the US, respiratory syncytial virus is an infectious disease that causes a runny nose, inflamed airways, and a fever. In severe cases, patients may be hospitalized due to dehydration or need oxygen, breathing tubes, or ventilators to assist with breathing.
Cases tend to spike in the fall and through the winter, and there’s no specific medication that can treat RSV once a child gets it.
To learn how to best prepare for the coming RSV season, Business Insider interviewed Dr. Sophie Katz, a pediatrician who led a workshop at ID Week, an annual conference for professionals in infectious disease medicine and research.
She’s also the parent of two daughters: Her 4-year-old was born before the RSV vaccine was FDA-approved in May 2024. Her youngest, born last fall, was vaccinated against RSV soon after her birth.
Katz shared how her RSV-season experiences varied between her two daughters, and the advice she gives to her pediatric patients to best prevent and treat the virus.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Julia Naftulin: How should parents be thinking about RSV vaccination?
Dr. Sophie Katz: There are two options pertinent to children for RSV vaccination. One is that, depending on the season that mom is pregnant, she can get a vaccine during her pregnancy, which will transfer her antibodies to the baby and protect the baby during the RSV season.
If, for some reason, that doesn’t happen, there’s also a monoclonal antibody that infants can get after they’re born that will protect them for the whole season. Then, for higher-risk babies, they can also get it during their second RSV season.
Vaccines are something that we give to people to spur the development of their own antibodies to prevent disease, but monoclonal antibodies are lab-developed antibodies that we give to people to protect against disease. The patient doesn’t have to develop their own, but it does still protect them. It’s not as long-lasting as a vaccine would be.
With your two daughters, how did their RSV experiences differ?
My first daughter was born in May 2021, and RSV vaccines were not available then. Because it was COVID season when she was born, we had a nanny, so she was pretty well-protected until she started day care when she was 1.5.
She did get RSV once she went to daycare, I’m pretty sure, because she had a lot of snot. We were also visiting my parents. My mom was definitely over 65 then, and she got RSV from my daughter. She always complains about how terrible it was, so when the RSV vaccine came out, she was the first in line to get it for older adults.
My second daughter is one now. She was born in early September 2024. I probably pestered my OB for most of the end of my pregnancy about getting the RSV vaccine, and they were like, “We can’t give it yet. It’s not October, it’s not RSV season.”
But then, as soon as my daughter was born, we were able to get it for her at one of her early follow-up visits. Last year, I’m pretty sure my 4-year-old got RSV again, and I got it. We both had a ton of snot and didn’t feel terrible, but didn’t feel great, since we both had it before.
But my baby was not sick at all. She was totally fine, and that was cool to see.
If you’re not high-risk — like a toddler, pregnant person, or someone over 75 — do you have advice for protecting yourself from exposure?
It’s the same as any other respiratory illness, so definitely wash your hands. If it’s high respiratory season, mask up. If you have symptoms, stay home until you’re fever-free for 24 hours and feeling better. If you can, keep your children away from other sick children.
My children both go to daycare, and probably all the illnesses that we get come from there. Still, we do our best in the wintertime to avoid indoor play places and things like that. We try to go to the park as much as we can and stay out of the small areas as much as we can.
Honestly, it’s just washing your hands as much as you can and keeping things sanitized — but don’t go crazy either. It’s about finding the right balance for yourself and your family, with respect to risk and benefit.
What do you see as the biggest research and policy priorities for pediatric RSV prevention in the next 5 or so years?
We know this vaccine and the monoclonal antibodies work really well, but the issue is getting them into people. I think a big part is vaccine hesitancy.
How do we convince them that it’s a worthwhile vaccine or monoclonal antibody? From a health policy perspective, how do we get it out into the community and get people to their clinicians to get vaccinated?
There was a snafu about its availability the first year that it came out. I think they underestimated the amount that we would actually need in the US, so there were a lot of inequities in how it was being given out and who it was available to.
That was better the next season, so I just hope that all of the current political discussions around vaccines don’t hinder uptake this season.
If you could redesign how the RSV vaccine has been communicated to parents, what would you want to emphasize based on your clinical expertise?
I would definitely continue to highlight how vaccines and monoclonals reduce hospitalization and death.
I’d highlight just how miserable those infants who are hospitalized with RSV look while they’re sick because it’s pretty hard to watch: Knowing that you can give them IV fluids, you can give them oxygen, but you can’t really do anything to make them better. You just have to support them through those five days.
It was always one of my least favorite things as a pediatric resident because you have to support the family, and they’re watching their child usually get a little bit worse before they get better. That was always hard to go through with them.
I’d also stress the general concept of vaccines: A child getting their vaccine is sort of like getting an upgrade for a phone. We do it to make sure that our phone doesn’t get bugs and doesn’t glitch out; a vaccine helps your child’s immune system do the same. It allows them to continue to be happy, healthy, learning, and growing children.
