Great News About A Terrible Disease

When my oldest child was three, she caught a cold. But this cold kept getting worse, until she was struggling to breathe. We rushed her to the Emergency Department where they found her oxygen level to be very low. She was admitted to the hospital where she was given breathing treatments and oxygen, and being a little kid, we had to hold the oxygen mask on her so she wouldn’t pull it off. It was terrifying.

She had respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a dangerous childhood disease that sends tens of thousands of kids to the hospital every year. About 3% of kids in the US are hospitalized for RSV every year. It’s also the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections (pneumonia and bronchiolitis) in babies.

But some good news is poking its head out. A new study in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is showing remarkable results at reducing the burden of RSV.¹ The strategy is actually really cool. If a baby is going to be born during RSV season (basically, the winter), the mom can get vaccinated, and she will pass the antibodies against the virus to her fetus. If mom doesn’t get vaccinated, baby can get a shot of antibodies. This protection lasts through the most dangerous period of the infant’s life. The study found that since the introduction of this strategy, RSV hospitalizations in babies under 8 months old dropped by somewhere between 28% and 43%. (The reason for the large range is due to the evaluation of two different databases. Both of these numbers likely under-estimate the benefit.) This is a remarkably successful intervention to benefit infant health.

Over the last 30 years, childhood vaccinations in the US have prevented over 1.1 million children from dying. That’s pretty remarkable. Much of this was made possible by the CDC’s Vaccines for Children program which pays for vaccinations when families cannot afford them.² This program includes RSV vaccinations and antibodies. Aside from saving kids’ lives, the program is quite cost effective, but neither fact will protect it from the massive cuts to public health we are seeing under the Trump/Kennedy HHS.

The key word here may be “equity”. Equity is one of the forbidden terms under the new administration, and programs that look at equity are being purged en masse. Of course, these purges hit our most vulnerable the hardest.

We’re in the middle of the one of the worst measles outbreaks in a quarter century, we have bird flu spreading through our domestic chickens and dairy cattle, and whooping cough is at its highest rate in years. This is no time to cut back our public health efforts. Please, write your representatives, especially if they’re Republicans (as that’s the party in the majority and most able to change things).³

The US leads the world in scientific and medical research, and these programs are being slashed without any logic, without any clear economic benefit, and with clear risks to us and our kids. Don’t be silent.

Stay well.

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1  Patton ME, Moline HL, Whitaker M, et al. Interim Evaluation of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalization Rates Among Infants and Young Children After Introduction of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prevention Products — United States, October 2024–February 2025. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2025;74:273–281. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7416a1.

2  Zhou F, Jatlaoui TC, Leidner AJ, et al. Health and Economic Benefits of Routine Childhood Immunizations in the Era of the Vaccines for Children Program — United States, 1994–2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024;73:682–685. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7331a2.

3  Sample letter: “Dear Senator/Represenative____, My name is _____ and I live in _____. I am very concerned about the enormous cuts being made to our public health and research institutions like the CDC and NIH. These cuts are destroying vital services that are saving lives. These programs are cost-effective and are part of what makes our country the world leader in health and medical research. Please do not let these cuts stand. They will lead directly to the deaths of children and other vulnerable Americans. Sincerely, ____”