CPBF's new Position Paper - a call to action
We have launched a call to action on ensuring equal access to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prophylaxis across Canada.
Skip to the Full Position Paper, our Summary document, or read on below
Our daughter was born at 35 weeks, at 8 weeks old, she got RSV and ended up in the hospital on oxygen for 8 days. She sustained damage to her lungs from the infection and has been on daily puffers since she was 10 months old. She is now four. ~ parent
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Important to know:
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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a leading cause of hospitalization in young children
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Premature infants are particularly vulnerable to severe disease (bronchiolitis and pneumonia)
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Currently, the only option to reduce RSV infection in all infants is good hygiene
The issue:
Palivizumab - a virus-fighting antibody that strengthens the infant’s defences against severe RSV is available for extremely preterm infants and for some high-risk infants born before 35 completed weeks’ gestation (wGA).
However, access to palivizumab across Canada is particularly variable in children born at moderate-to-late preterm (32-35 wGA), mainly due to cost considerations.
This has created inequity. Access to palivizumab in this group depends on where an infant is born.
Analysis:
A new cost-analysis of palivizumab has recently been published and the results indicate that the benefits of palivizumab are worth its cost when its use is guided by a risk scoring tool.1
Risk scoring tools help to target prophylaxis to those infants at greatest risk of severe RSV disease.
The CBPF, in collaboration with RSV experts, has developed a position paper that provides a summary of the new cost-analysis as well as offering a call to action to end inconsistencies in the use of palivizumab, and ensure that all parents of preterm infants born 32-35 wGA receive correct advice about RSV infection and the same level of care:
Action:
Recommendations
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Standardize the availability of palivizumab
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Present RSV information to all families individually with education
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Provide year-round healthcare professional education on RSV and related illness
Read the Full Position Paper:
ENSURING EQUAL ACCESS TO RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS (RSV) PROPHYLAXIS
FOR PRETERM INFANTS BORN 32-35 WEEKS GESTATIONAL AGE SUMMARY OF A NEW COST ANALYSIS
view or download (PDF 1.9 MB)
ASSURER L’ÉGALITÉ D’ACCÈS À LA PROPHYLAXIE POUR LE VIRUS RESPIRATOIRE SYNCYTIAL (VRS) POUR LES NOURRISSONS PRÉMATURÉS NÉS À 32-35 SEMAINES D’ÂGE GESTATIONNEL RÉSUMÉ D’UNE NOUVELLE ANALYSE DE COÛT
afficher ou télécharger (PDF 1,9 Mo)
