Big Win in Infant Health: RSV Hospitalizations Cut in Half Following New Preventive Measures

Rochester physicians and epidemiologists play a vital role in RSV research.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in the United States. A recent report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlights a substantial decline in hospitalizations during the 2024-2025 RSV season among children under the age of 5. This success follows the introduction of two preventive measures in 2023: the maternal RSV vaccine given to pregnant women and nirsevimab, a long-acting monoclonal antibody given to infants.

The study compared RSV-associated hospitalizations from two surveillance networks—the CDC’s Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET) and the New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN)—between the 2024-2025 RSV season and the pre-intervention seasons of 2018-2020. The University of Rochester is an active contributor to both networks, reflecting the community’s long-standing role in advancing RSV research and public health innovation.    

Key findings include:

• Nationally, RSV hospitalizations among infants under 3 months dropped by 50%.
• In New York State (NYS), hospitalization rates in infants under 3 months declined by 76%.
• Among NYS infants under 8 months, hospitalization rates declined by 70%.

Local Experts Weigh In

RSV Surveillance Team, Rochester Emerging Infections ProgramBrenda Tesini, MD, associate professor of Infectious Diseases and Pediatrics, and Ghinwa Dumyati, MD, professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) emphasize the public health significance of these findings.

“This is a game changer for pediatrics,” said Tesini. "Children’s hospitals are full of sick babies during the RSV season. It is remarkable to see such a dramatic reduction in hospitalizations in only the first full season with these prevention strategies available.”

Dumyati added, “These results show the importance of working together to track respiratory viruses and monitor the impact of effective public health interventions.”

Rochester's Role in RSV Surveillance

Since 2017, the University of Rochester has been central in tracking RSV hospitalizations in Monroe and six surrounding counties as part of the CDC’s RESP-NET. In 1997, the New York State Department of Health formed the NYS Emerging Infections Program (EIP). Dumyati and Tesini are principal investigators of the Rochester EIP site, which is coordinated by the Center for Community Health & Prevention at URMC. The Rochester/NYS EIP contributes to a broader network of 14 CDC-led sites across the U.S. that participate in RESP-NET surveillance for hospitalizations related to COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV.  

Additionally, Rochester serves as a site for the New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN), a CDC-supported program assessing vaccine-preventable disease burden and evaluating the impact of new vaccines and policies in children. Geoffrey Weinberg, MD, URMC professor of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases who treats patients at UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital, co-leads the Rochester NVSN site.

RSV Prevention Recommendations

To protect infants from severe illness, the CDC recommends:

• Maternal RSV vaccine for individuals at 32–36 weeks of pregnancy during RSV season, or
• Nirsevimab for infants younger than 8 months entering their first RSV season, and certain older infants at high-risk of severe RSV disease