The task force white paper, released today,
stresses the importance of education, communication and
awareness to allow for informed, shared decision-making
OTTAWA,
ON, July 2, 2024 /CNW/ - Today, the
Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC) released a white paper on behalf
of the recently convened Maternal RSV Task Force. The task force
was brought together by the FMWC to address the urgent need for
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) prevention in infants for the
upcoming 2024 - 2025 RSV season. Chief among the recommendations in
the resulting white paper was a call to offer RSV protection to
all infants, now. While provincial governments
evaluate, create and implement possible universal programs, the
Maternal RSV Task Force calls for urgent education, communication
and awareness to seize this unprecedented opportunity to protect
more infants from RSV disease this RSV season.
The Time is Now
Health Canada recently approved
two new products offering protection against RSV in infants in the
critical early months of life. These include Nirsevimab
(BeyfortusTM, Sanofi), a monoclonal antibody which can
be given to newborns and infants in their first RSV season and to
high-risk children up to 24 months of age in their second RSV
season, and RSVpreF (AbrysvoTM, Pfizer), a maternal RSV
vaccine that can be given to pregnant women and pregnant people
between 32-36 weeks' gestation. The maternal vaccine gives all
infants the opportunity to have protection from RSV from 0 to 6
months through protection from their mothers. Both new products
equip healthcare providers with additional prevention resources to
protect more infants against this disease.
While we now have national recommendations from NACI, new
provincial health programs to protect all infants from RSV are in
the early stages of consideration and development and most
jurisdictions will not have a provincial program in place for this
RSV season. Understanding these programs take time to come into
effect, we must act now. We need to protect infants as we approach
the RSV season. The call to action for pregnant people today is to
talk to your healthcare provider about available options to protect
your baby from RSV disease.
"RSV has plagued us for years; this is the year we can prevent
this disease" says Dr. Cora
Constantinescu, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Calgary, FMWC Maternal RSV Task Force
Member.
"We see our pregnant patients on a regular basis and offer other
routine vaccines" said Dr. Shelley
Ross, Family Physician and Co-Chair FMWC Maternal RSV Task
Force. "To give every infant the chance for protection from RSV
this 2024 -2025 season, we have the ideal opportunity to educate,
inform and offer the option for maternal RSV vaccination between 32
and 36 weeks' gestation."
About the Task Force
The Maternal RSV Task Force is comprised of doctors in family
medicine, pediatric infectious disease, obstetrics and gynecology,
maternal fetal medicine, women's health, and pregnancy care,
pharmacists, researchers and public health representation from
across Canada.
The white paper serves as a call to action with critical
recommendations for healthcare providers, policymakers, and the
public to reduce the burden of RSV-related deaths and injury,
strain on the healthcare system and society, and the trauma
families endure when caring for an infant with RSV.
The white paper offers nine short-term and four long-term
recommendations including education to address knowledge gaps among
healthcare providers, communication about the efficacy, safety,
availability and benefits of immunization and awareness among
healthcare providers, pregnant people, the public and policymakers
about the burden of RSV disease in infants and the available
protective options. The recommendations prioritize the crucial
importance of informed, shared decision-making between healthcare
providers and pregnant people through clear and effective
communication.
Reducing the Impact of RSV
Ottawa-based mother
Jessica Cohn continues to experience
the trauma RSV can cause after her second child was diagnosed at
just one month old. She recounts crumpling to the floor when a team
of doctors told her that her son's health was deteriorating, and he
would need to be intubated. He spent two weeks in Ottawa's pediatric intensive care. It's a
trauma she carried through her third pregnancy and still feels
fresh today.
"I hope pregnant moms will hear my story and take action to
prevent it from happening to them. It's not just the babies with
preexisting conditions RSV can affect…it can affect any baby. It's
that scary." said Jessica Cohn.
Discussing the new protective measures now available for
infants, Ms. Cohn shared: "I'm just so happy this is all coming to
fruition. As my doctor can attest, I was begging for this type of
vaccine when I was pregnant with my 3rd (my pregnancy after my son
who was sick with RSV)."
RSV is a highly contagious virus that can be deadly for infants,
causing severe respiratory disease and
hospitalization.i While infants with certain
medical conditions are at a higher risk of severe RSV disease,
healthy-term infants account for the largest proportion of infants
with severe RSV disease each year.ii,iii,iv Over half of
RSV-related hospitalizations in children are in patients under six
months of age with the highest rate of hospitalization occurring in
the first three months of life.v,vi
"The time is now" said Dr. Vivien
Brown, Family Physician and Co-Chair of the FMWC Maternal
RSV Task Force. "We have excellent new options, we have the luxury
of learning from other countries experiences, and we need to act
now to protect infants, and we will."
For more details on the FMWC Maternal RSV White Paper and its
recommendations, please visit fmwc.ca
About FMWC
The Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC) is a national organization
committed to the professional, social and personal advancement of
women physicians and to the promotion of the well-being of women
both in the medical profession and in society at large. Established
in 1924, the FMWC is also an independent nation member of the
Medical Women's International Association. For more information,
please visit: www.fmwc.ca.
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i Canada.
Statement on the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
disease in infants. 2024. Available
from: naci-statement-2024-05-17.pdf (canada.ca)
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ii Baraldi
E, Lisi GC, Costantino C etal. RSV disease in infants and young
children: Can we see a brighter future? Human Vaccines and
Immunotherapeutics. 2022; 18(4):
2079322.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9721445/
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iii Abrams
EM, Doyon-Plourde P, Davis P et al. Burden of disease of
respiratory syncytial virus in infants, young children and pregnant
women and people. Canada. Communicable Disease Report. 2024;
250(1/2):
1-15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10949905/
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iv Hall CB,
Weinberg GA, Iwane MK et al. The Burden of Respiratory Syncytial
Virus Infection in Young Children. New England Journal of Medicine.
2009; 360:
588-598.https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0804877
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v Bourdeau
M, Vadlamudi NK, Bastien N, et al. Pediatric RSV-Associated
Hospitalizations Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA
Network. 2023; 6(10):
e2336863. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2810133
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vi Buchan
SA, Chung H, To T, et al. Estimating the Incidence of First RSV
Hospitalization in Children Born in Ontario, Canada, Journal of the
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. 2023; 12(7):
421–430. https://academic.oup.com/jpids/article/12/7/421/7202032
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For more information, or to request an interview, please
contact: Lauren Douglas, Veritas
Communications, douglas@veritasinc.com, 647-984-8518
SOURCE Federation of Medical Women of Canada