There's urgent need for awareness, immunisation against RSV in India: Doctors
respiratory syncytial virus
(RSV) claimed 2,360 lives of children in hospitals notified in Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai, said Dr Vasant M Khalatkar, National President of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) on Tuesday.
Yet, RSV, often mistaken for a mild seasonal cold, is an under-discussed cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under five, he added.
According to Dr Khalatkar, the 2024 data is just the tip of the ice-berg: although it has been a notifiable infection for almost five decades, people do not test for it.
"Only when you see outbreaks -- like the one that happened in Kolkata in January -- do testing occur," he pointed out.
Dr Khalatkar was part of a three-member panel that participated in a roundtable discussion on the prevalence of RSV, organised by Dr Reddy's Laboratories Limited in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Dr Reddy's is partnering with Sanofi, a French biopharma company, to bring to India single-dose preventive immunisation developed to protect infants from RSV-related complications.
Citing Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and published studies, Dr Bhavesh Kotak, Head of Medical Affairs at Dr Reddy's, who was also part of the panel, said, "RSV is the leading cause of respiratory illness in India, and when it deteriorates, it does so within three days of a cold-like symptom -- from there on, the child develops serious complications like bronchiolitis and pneumonia."
He also quoted from a World Health Organization (WHO) study, which establishes that RSV is responsible for 63 per cent of acute respiratory infections in infants and young children worldwide.
At the roundtable discussion, the doctors also stated that by the time babies turn two years old, they are infected by RSV at least once. They held that there is no biomarker to determine which child will become seriously ill and develop pneumonia and bronchiolitis.
Representing Sanofi, Dr Cesar Mascarenas, Head of Medical International Region, said breast milk alone will not protect infants. "The breastmilk is responsible for digestive tract-related immunity, while the placenta provides respiratory immunity, but this lasts about a month," he said.
"We have long been working to close critical gaps in prevention by advancing science-driven solutions that align with evolving global recommendations, including those from the WHO," added Mascarenas.
Dr Kotak said India bears a significant share of the global RSV burden.
"Unlike high-income countries with advanced prevention care and early access to preventive solutions, India still faces challenges in timely diagnosis and protection. Increased awareness around the severity of RSV and enabled access to ground-breaking immunisation solutions will be critical in building a more equitable and effective national response to RSV," he added. PTI
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