Eur J Pediatr. 2025 Sep 13;184(10):616. doi: 10.1007/s00431-025-06440-x.
ABSTRACT
To analyse the effect of nirsevimab immunoprophylaxis on RSV-associated outcomes after two consecutive epidemic seasons in infants born and Living in Catalonia, Spain. We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study including all infants born in Catalonia between April 2023 and March 2024. We established two cohorts (immunised with nirsevimab and non-immunised). We estimated adjusted cumulative incidences (CInc) curves for RSV-associated hospital admissions, paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions, emergency department (ED) visits for bronchiolitis, and RSV infections and bronchiolitis registered in primary care from October 2023 to mid-February 2025 using inverse probability-weighted Kaplan-Meier methods. Marginal risk differences and risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated at the end of the first RSV season (January 15, 2024), beginning of the second season (October 1, 2024), and end of the second season (February 16, 2025). As a secondary analysis, we estimated adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) during the second RSV season (October 2024 to mid-February 2025) using Cox proportional hazard models. Among 51,154 infants, 45,971 (89.9%) were immunised with nirsevimab just before or during their first RSV season. After two RSV seasons, the CInc of severe outcomes remained substantially lower in the immunised group. By the end of the study period, the CInc of hospital admissions was 9.57 per 1,000 infants (95%CI: 7.92-11.20) in the immunised group and 35.56 per 1,000 (95%CI: 25.69-47.58) in the control group (RR: 0.27, 95%CI: 0.20-0.40); and for PICU admissions, 1.90 vs. 9.08 per 1,000 (RR: 0.21, 95%CI: 0.11-0.48). Primary care infection rates were also lower in the immunised group (13.78 vs. 16.96 per 1,000), although the difference was not statistically significant (RR: 0.81, 95%CI: 0.57-1.29). No statistically significant differences were observed in aHR across any outcomes during the second season.
CONCLUSION: After two consecutive epidemic seasons, nirsevimab immunization provides protection against severe RSV-associated outcomes, with a significant reduction observed during the first season without increasing the risk of severe disease during the second.
WHAT IS KNOWN: • Nirsevimab, a long-acting monoclonal antibody, was approved in 2023 to prevent severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in the first seasonal exposure to the virus. • It has demonstrated high effectiveness in real-world studies in preventing RSV-associated hospital admissions in infants during their first season.
WHAT IS NEW: • Our study provides evidence that nirsevimab reduces severe RSV-associated outcomes during the first season without increasing the risk of more severe disease in the second season. • After two years we still found lower rates of hospital and PICU admissions in the nirsevimab group, despite a slightly increased RSV infection rate among immunised infants during the second season, but with reduced severity.
PMID:40946115 | DOI:10.1007/s00431-025-06440-x
