Finally, Some Good News for Children—Thank God!
Editor’s Note
Mobeen H. Rathore, MD, CPE, FAAP, FPIDS, FSHEA, FIDSA, FACPE
Editor, The Florida Pediatrician
PUBLISHED Summer 2025 | Volume 45, Issue 3
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For too long, the headlines about children’s health have been troubling—over 1,000 measles cases and heartbreaking, avoidable deaths due to missed immunizations. Vaccination programs continue to face threats from misinformation and hesitancy, making it feel like we are in a constant state of defense.
But now, finally, there is a reason to celebrate.
A significant breakthrough has emerged in the fight against RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), a common yet potentially severe infection in infants. The monoclonal antibody nirsevimab (Beyfortus®, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK) has resulted in a measurable reduction in hospitalizations among infants under 7 months of age during the 2024–2025 RSV season. This comes as nirsevimab rapidly replaced palivizumab (Synagis® Sobi, Stockholm, Sweden) as the preferred preventive option, administered in both hospitals and pediatric offices.
According to recent CDC data, infants eligible for nirsevimab experienced decreased hospitalization rates. In contrast, hospitalization rates increased in older children ineligible for this product, compared to rates in pre-COVID years. This pattern mirrors the successful rollout of past pediatric immunization breakthroughs, such as the Hib vaccine in the 1990s and the rotavirus vaccine, which nearly eliminated hospitalizations from those diseases.
What Comes Next?
We will need to observe the data across several more seasons to confirm a causal relationship, a key element of Hill’s postulate, to confirm nirsevimab’s lasting impact. But the early evidence is promising.
In addition, another preventive antibody, clersovimab (Merck & Co, Rahway, New Jersey USA), is currently under investigation and may be available by the 2025–2026 RSV season, offering another weapon in our arsenal against RSV.
On the maternal immunization front, the RSV vaccine Abrysvo® (Pfizer, New) has been recommended by the CDC and ACOG for use during weeks 32–36 of pregnancy, ideally between September and January. Yet uptake remains disappointingly low, with only 38.5% of pregnant women aged 18 to 49 having received the vaccine by the end of January 2025. Clearly, much work remains to be done to improve maternal vaccination rates.
The Role of Pediatricians and Public Health
Vaccination remains one of the most successful public health interventions ever, second only to the provision of clean water. To sustain and build upon these gains:
- Misinformation must be countered with evidence-based communication.
- Vaccine hesitancy must be met with empathy, education, and persistent advocacy.
- Pediatricians remain on the front lines—trusted sources of truth and influence in their communities.
Many of us still remember treating Hib meningitis, pneumococcal sepsis, rotavirus hospitalizations, and pertussis outbreaks. Thanks to vaccines, those harrowing cases have become rare, but they are not extinct. And none of us wants to return to those days.
The author(s) of each article appearing in this Journal is/are solely responsible for the content thereof; the publication of an article shall not constitute or be deemed to constitute any representation by the Editors or the Florida Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, Inc., that the data presented therein are correct or sufficient to support the conclusions reached or that the experiment design or methodology is adequate. Additionally, the views and comments expressed in the Editor’s Note are the personal views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of the entire Editorial Board or the Florida Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, Inc.