How Long Is Your RSV Immunization Protective?

from Dr. Howard Smith Reports Hosted by Howard G. Smith MD, AM

Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOweKVlCSKY/ A single RSV vaccination is protective for vulnerable adults through 2 consecutive RSV seasons. This the conclusion of a multicenter, collaborative study headed by investigators at Vanderbilt University. They studied 6958 persons 60 years or older hospitalized with respiratory illness in 20 states from 2023 into 2025. The vaccine effectiveness for preventing a hospitalization with Respiratory Syncytial Virus was 69% during the first year following vaccination and 48% during the second year yielding an average effectiveness over the 2 years of 58%. The year-to-year change was not significant. Drilling down on the study population, the 2 season vaccine effectiveness was lower for immunocompromised patients at 30% compared with 67% for the immunocompetent and lower at 58% or those with cardiovascular disease versus 80% for those without it. Work is now ongoing to determine when individuals with complicating medical conditions such as immunosuppression and/or cardiovascular disease should receive RSV boosters. Also expect to see recommendations from infectious disease specialists regarding when otherwise healthy older individual should receive boosters. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2838490 #rsv #vaccination #hospitalization #immunosuppression #cardiovascular