Approximately 80 Percent Protection May be Provided by RSV Vaccine Against Severe Disease and Death: Study Suggests - Video

A multi-state study, published in The Lancet, is one of the first real world data analyses of the effectiveness of the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine. VISION Network researchers report that across the board these vaccines were highly effective in older adults, even those with immunocompromising conditions, during the 2023-24 respiratory disease season, the first season after respiratory syncytial virus vaccine approval in the U.S.

respiratory syncytial virus vaccination provided approximately 80 percent protection against severe disease and hospitalization, Intensive Care Unit admission and death due to a respiratory infection as well as similar protection against less severe disease in adults who visited an emergency department but did not require hospitalization, ages 60 and older. Of this population, those ages 75 and older -- were at highest risk of severe disease and were the most likely to be hospitalized.

The study was a collaboration among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and geographically diverse U.S. healthcare systems and research centers with integrated medical, laboratory and vaccination records – all members of the CDC’s VISION Network.

“Unlike this data study, clinical trials for the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine were underpowered to access the effectiveness of the vaccines against severe disease requiring hospitalization. Addressing this gap in evidence, we were able to use the power of big data to determine respiratory syncytial virus vaccine effectiveness, information needed to inform vaccine policy,” said study co-author Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S. “As a data scientist and a family practice physician, I encourage older adults to follow CDC guidance and get vaccinated for respiratory syncytial virus as we enter this year’s and every year’s respiratory disease season.” Dr. Grannis is vice president for data and analytics at Regenstrief Institute and a professor of family medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Reference: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine effectiveness against RSV-associated hospitalisations and emergency department encounters among adults aged 60 years and older in the USA, October, 2023, to March, 2024: a test-negative design analysis, Payne, Amanda B et al.The Lancet, Volume 404, Issue 10462, 1547 - 1559