Palivizumab prophylaxis for respiratory syncytial virus in Canada: utilization and outcomes

Abstract

This study demonstrates that prophylaxis with palivizumab during the RSV season was associated with a low rate of hospitalization for RSV-positive LRTIs. Palivizumab was well-tolerated, and compliance was high. The findings confirm the results of the major randomized clinical trial of palivizumab and demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of RSV prophylaxis.

The impact of prophylaxis on paediatric intensive care unit admissions for RSV infection: a retrospective, single-centre study

“…Six (3.3%) children who received palivizumab were admitted with RSV infection and were in agreement with the range of 1.3-5.3% in published reports on the efficacy of palivizumab from randomized controlled trials and registries [11,14,27,28,32,46]. The CPS has issued national guidelines for RSV prophylaxis which have been adopted uniformly across all provinces [42].…”

Palivizumab prophylaxis and hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus disease in the Stockholm infant population, 1999 through 2002

“…In most of these studies the producers and vendors of Synagis (Abbott, MedImmune) have been directly or indirectly involved. [2][3][4][5][6][7] Palivizumab is expensive, with an average medication cost of more than $ 4500 per treated infant per season in Stockholm. If the protective effect in our population is the same as in the IMpact study, we need to treat 15 to 40 infants (drug cost, $67 500 to 180 000) to prevent one hospitalization even in the group with the highest risk, i.e.…”

Reducing the burden of respiratory syncytial virus: An audit of the use of palivizumab prophylaxis in the UK during the September 2001–March 2002 RSV season

“…The level of non-compliance in this audit was striking. Overall, only 40% of the infants included in this audit received 5 or more injections of palivizumab, a rate that is lower than reported in a number of the RCTs (Cohen et al, 2000;IMpact-RSV Study Group, 1998;Oh et al, 2002;Sorrentino and Powers, 2000). Clearly infants born after the start of the RSV season will not require 5 doses.…”

“…Many countries have published outcomes data (Cohen et al, 2000;Grassi et al, 2001;Groothuis, 2001;Lacaze-Masmonteil et al, 2003;Oh et al, 2002;Palivizumab Outcomes Registry Study Group, 2003;Sorrentino and Powers, 2000;van Kan et al, 2001), which report consistently low hospitalisation rates for patients receiving palivizumab, thus demonstrating the beneficial effect of this prophylactic treatment. Data reporting the incidence of 'real world' RSV hospitalisation following prophylactic treatment in the UK, however, are sparse.…”