Syracuse, NY — Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital has only one box left of the potentially life-saving RSV drug that protects most babies against complications from the common respiratory disease.
Pediatrician Dr. Jana Shaw displayed the only box Monday as local leaders joined U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, in calling on federal action to bring more of the drug to Central New York hospitals and doctor’s offices.
RELATED: Slow rollout of RSV drug leaves Upstate Golisano coping with surge of sick babies
The drug, Beyfortus, is recommended for all babies born during cold weather, and promises to reduce the chance of a baby being hospitalized for RSV by 80%. Respiratory Syncytial Virus kills at least one baby each year in Central New York and more than 250,000 worldwide.
But the drug manufacturers have only promised roughly 300,000 doses for the entire country this winter, or enough to cover less than 40% of the nation’s babies. That has led to widespread shortages in places that can least afford to go without.
Crouse Hospital, which runs the region’s largest neonatal intensive care unit, doesn’t have any doses of the drug right now, CEO Dr. Seth Kronenberg said. Every baby in the NICU is at high-risk of complications from RSV.
And Syracuse Community Health, which sees about 20 to 30 babies a day, has gotten only 20 doses all winter, Interim President and CEO Dr. Ofrona Reid said. That’s despite placing repeated orders for hundreds of doses since October.
“We struggle and struggle to get just a few doses,” Reid said, adding that SCH has rationed the doses to only the babies most at-risk for complications.
It’s anticipated that the U.S. will need more than one million doses of the drug each year to immunize all babies against RSV. The drug, aimed at babies 0 through 8 months old, provides up to five months of protection, enough to get through one RSV season.
Schumer called it a “miracle” drug, noting its high level of protection and its absence of…
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