‘Truly wonderful news,’ says N.L.’s top doctor as RSV shots expanded for infants and seniors

Source: www.cbc.ca Vaccine will be free for infants six months and younger, those 70 and older Newfoundland and Labrador is expanding the eligibility criteria for the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, vaccine to include infants aged six months and younger as well as those 75 and older. RSV is a common, highly-contagious virus that causes infections of […]
IN-DEPTH: The harrowing and potentially avoidable experience of RSV

Source: www.westernstandard.news EDMONTON — Kat Bellavance, a mother of three, knows what it is like to endure sleepless nights caused by an infant’s shrieking cries for milk; unfortunately, she has also learned what it is like to wake up and find her baby desperately fighting to breath. Bellavance learned this harrowing reality in 2023 when […]
Latest NACI Recommendations for People With RSV
Postal codes shouldn’t determine protection: What RSV reveals about vaccine equity in Canada

Source: theconversation.com Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a familiar seasonal illness, but the tools to prevent it are new. Canada has recently approved vaccines for older adults and pregnant people, along with a long-acting monoclonal antibody that can protect infants through their first RSV season. These innovations offer new ways to reduce hospitalizations and severe […]
Alberta doctors urge province to offer free RSV shot to all newborns to cut health risks, hospital visits

Source: www.cbc.ca Provincial government says cost-effectiveness analysis underway Pediatricians are calling on the Alberta government to provide a preventative RSV shot for free to all newborns this fall, saying the move could spare many babies from getting very sick and reduce pressure on hospitals during the busy respiratory virus season. Alberta began offering the antibody […]
INFANT RSV PROTECTION

Vivien Brown, MDCM, CCFP, FCFP, MSCP, Family Physician Toronto, ON, Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto Shelley Ross, MD, CCFP, FCFP, ICD.D, Family Physician, Burnaby BC, Clinical Instructor, University of British Columbia We are, once again in the middle of RSV season, when hospital emergencies and pediatric wards typically are, […]
New data shows RSV shots prevent ‘most dangerous’ respiratory infection for newborns

Antibody shots keep infants out of hospital, studies find. But not all Canadians have access As Katrina Bellavance’s seven-week-old daughter kept coughing non-stop, the Calgary mother unzipped her newborn’s pajamas and saw the skin around her tiny ribs tugging inward with each laboured breath. “In that moment, we knew we had to get her to […]
Parents, doctors call for free RSV shots for all infants in B.C.

Nirsevimab, an RSV infant immunization, is publicly funded in most provinces, but not B.C. An infant immunization for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is now available across Canada, but it still has to be paid for out of pocket — and at a steep cost — by most parents in B.C. Dr. Patrick Hemmons, a northern […]
Mother urges parents to get RSV antibody for newborns after son’s harrowing experience

Eitan Cohn developed RSV at less than a month old, spent 2 weeks in hospital A mother is sharing the devastation she felt watching her newborn son develop respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and urging Ontario parents to get a newly available preventative treatment for their babies. RSV is a common virus that affects the lungs. […]
Canadian physicians aim to prevent RSV in infants

Listen here: Canadian physicians aim to prevent RSV in infants, CBC Radio Fresh Air with Ismaila Alfa, Ottawa