Balearic Islands invests 1.9 million euros in research and development of respiratory syncytial virus vaccine

Vaccine booster. The Balearic Islands invested €1.9 million in a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. The district administration will immunize all children predisposed to the disease with the combination nirsevimab during the 2023-2024 season.

RSV causes an enormous burden of disease each year in the smallest infants, especially premature infants, infants with underlying conditions, and healthy children under six months, whether in terms of infections, hospitalizations, or intensive care unit (ICU) admissions.

Apart from, The virus is the leading cause of bronchiolitis, which consists of inflammation of the bronchi and bronchioles, and accounts for 80 percent of respiratory illnesses and hospitalizations in children under one year old.

. The disease is more common and severe in premature babies or children with severe medical conditions, but because it is a very common disease, most of those affected are healthy children.

The Balearic Islands will vaccinate all children susceptible to the disease in the 2023-2024 season

The most common complication of this pathology is respiratory distress, often requiring oxygen or other respiratory assistance.. Young children may also have difficulty eating. Other microbial infections are also seen, mainly otitis media or pneumonia, but also systemic infections.

Authorized by the European Union in 2022, nirsevimab has been shown to be safe and highly effective in preventing the disease, especially in its most severe forms, with protection lasting almost the entire RSV transmission season.

Administered as a single intramuscular injection, the drug can be safely and effectively administered from birth. For all these reasons, public health professionals and the pediatric and vaccinological societies recommend it for all infants during the first season of RSV transmission.

Recently, the Balearic Islands allocated €3.2 million for the purchase of pneumococcal vaccines. The disease mainly affects infants under the age of five and people of legal age. In addition, supply contracts have been signed for the remainder of this year and all of 2024.

In recent years, the Spanish National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (Renave) has collected 3,000 to 4,000 cases per year, mainly affecting children under five years of age and the elderly.

Vaccination is the main means of preventing the disease, for which reason 2016 vaccines are on the children’s calendar. As far as older people are concerned, the vaccine is already available for high-risk groups, and the Public Health Board approved universal vaccination for people aged 65 or over in 2018.