Oct. 18, 2024 – Older people who find themselves unsure whether to get vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) now have a recent data set to assist them make their decision.
A big study in The lancet concluded that the vaccine is 80 percent effective in stopping hospitalizations resulting from complications from the disease and is equally effective in protecting older people from death or the necessity for hospital intensive care within the event of great complications to be treated. The vaccines were almost as effective in stopping RSV-related emergency room visits.
When researchers looked only at data for immunocompromised people, the vaccine was 73% effective at stopping hospitalization. The team used data from CDC scientists, university and hospital researchers, and likewise included work from nonprofit and personal firms. They determined effectiveness by comparing vaccinated individuals with unvaccinated people, all of whom had similar symptoms and were tested for the virus.
The report is the most important study yet to look at the primary 12 months of knowledge on how well the vaccinations work in the true world. The vaccines were first approved within the U.S. last May, and medical and public health officials have been wanting to see how well the vaccines work outside of clinical trials that suggested the shots could be possible more than 90% effective to stop serious illnesses.
“No vaccine is 100 percent effective. “An 80 percent vaccine efficacy rate is quite impressive and higher than we see with the flu vaccine, for example,” Brian Dixon, PhD, MPA, study co-author and professor at Indiana University, said in an announcement opinion.
“The bottom line is,” continued Dixon, “that based on real-world data from electronic health records routinely collected in the care of people from different walks of life, we found that the vaccine provides a high level of protection against hospitalization, serious illness and death .”
The study included data from 36,706 people ages 60 and older in eight states and 230 hospitals in California, Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. All people within the study took an RSV test between October 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024 and 1,926 people tested positive. The study included 3,275 vaccinated people, in response to electronic health records, city or state vaccination registries or medical information.
In most individuals, RSV causes a chilly Symptoms resembling nasal congestion, runny nose, mild fever and sore throat. However, older individuals are at higher risk of severe illness if the infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract and causes pneumonia or one other condition called bronchiolitis, which makes respiratory difficult resulting from inflammation within the small airways to the lungs.
RSV vaccines for older adults can be found from two drug manufacturers, and the CDC doesn't recommend one over the opposite. Pfizer makes Abrysvo and GSK makes Arexvy. Researchers on this latest study reported that the effectiveness of each vaccinations was similar.
The CDC currently recommends that everybody age 75 and older receives not less than one dose, and that adults ages 60 to 74 should receive a dose in the event that they are at higher risk of severe RSV, resembling: B. chronic heart problems, a chronic lung or respiratory disease, severe obesity, etc. have diabetes or live in a nursing home. People don't must get a recent dose every 12 months.
This 12 months the CDC driven back Its original advice was geared toward people ages 60 to 74 and said only people in that age group should get vaccinated in the event that they are at increased risk.
From October fifth it's CDC reported that 37% of individuals ages 75 and older say they've ever received an RSV vaccine and 13% said they definitely will get one. Of adults ages 60 to 74, 24% said that they had been vaccinated against RSV and 10% said they'd definitely get the vaccine.
Cases of RSV nationwide remain low. Last 12 months, activity increased in November and peaked across the New Year.