It advice was presented today to outgoing State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen of Health. It is up to the cabinet whether or not to adopt the advice.
The respiratory syncytial virus, as the virus is fully called, is common and usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. The disease can be more serious in people with a weakened immune system. Consider children, the elderly and people with lung or heart disease.
2000 children in hospital every year
You need to be careful, especially if premature babies become infected. The RS virus is the main reason for hospital admission for children in Europe. About 2,000 end up in hospital every year. Saskia can relate: her newborn son was admitted to intensive care:
Last April, State Secretary Van Ooijen asked regarding whether or not to add an RS vaccine to the National Vaccination Program. The reason was that there were all kinds of developments in the field of vaccines.
Two resources approved
Two new drugs have recently been approved for non-risk groups. The Health Council first talks regarding nirsevimab: this is an antibody intended for children and is the council’s preference.
The other new drug is a vaccine for pregnant women, which protects the child shortly following birth. This remedy is not preferred by the council. For two reasons: children born outside the RSV season are less well protected by the time the RSV season starts, as the antibodies no longer provide sufficient protection. The drug is also less effective in premature birth because insufficient antibodies have been able to reach the fetus.
Both drugs are administered by injection. According to the council, the health benefits to be achieved outweigh the potential side effects.
When an injection?
The Health Council: children born just before or during the RSV season should be offered nirsevimab shortly following birth (in any case within 2 weeks) and children born following the RSV season just before the start of their first RSV season. In practice this will be October.
You can do this for your sick baby
This winter, the RIVM is seeing another peak in the number of infections and hospital admissions as a result of the RS virus. Young babies in particular can become very ill from the virus. In December we asked a pediatrician what you can do if you suspect your child has RS:
State Secretary’s response: ‘There is no money at the moment’
Maarten van Ooijen, outgoing State Secretary for Health, will inform the House ‘as soon as possible regarding the follow-up to this advice’. “There are currently no financial resources available for possible follow-up of this advice,” he said in a letter to the House of Representatives.
The letter further states that no financing is available for several positive vaccination recommendations from the Health Council (for example pneumococcal and shingles vaccination). “In this context, as previously reported to your House, financial-technical options are currently being explored at official level for the next cabinet period, for financing Health Council advice on vaccinations.”
