MADISON, Wis. – A new shot to protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is in short supply across the country and Wisconsin.

What You Need To Know

  • Respiratory syncytial virus caused record hospitalizations during last virus season

  • A new antibody shot was approved that can protect infants

  • There's a shortage of supply

  • Wisconsin health systems are getting their first doses, and distributing it to babies at highest risk

Last virus season broke hospitalization records for RSV. It’s already spreading here in Wisconsin this year.

Over the summer, regulators approved a shot that can keep infants from getting RSV. It’s technically not a vaccine. Instead of prompting your immune system to make antibodies, this shot is just the antibodies on their own, ready to fight the virus.

However, there have been supply issues along the way. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took over distribution for kids who are on Medicaid, uninsured or underinsured in October.

Dr. Kevin Dahlman of Aurora Children’s Health said his team just got their first doses of the shot on Monday.

“As we are speaking, we have a few doses rolling in. We're going to be able to start to give it to some patients with major risk factors,” Dahlman said Monday afternoon. “We're fielding a lot of phone calls and messages. For those that are highest risk, we are scrambling to get them doses wherever we can find them.”

Dr. Megan Meller said Gundersen Health System got its first doses last week.

“We’ve got it in the system, and now we’re getting it into the arms of the kids who need it,” she said.

Luckily, the shot works quickly because it doesn’t require time for the body to create an immune response. Now, providers will work to catch up because RSV season is already here. Plus, once a child is sick with RSV, there aren’t really treatment options.

“Right now, it's a very helpless feeling as a practicing pediatrician,” Dahlman said. “To see a patient and say, 'Yes, this is RSV bronchiolitis.' So then, of course, the natural question from parents are 'Great, then how do we treat it?’ And we often have to grunt and groan and say, ‘I'm so sorry, there's no treatment for it; we have to watch your child very carefully’.”

While Dahlman admitted he is an optimist, he said there’s a good chance this is one of our very last bad RSV seasons.

“Prevention is so astronomically important for the health and life of these little ones, that this is the answer,” he said. “This is the game changer.”

He predicted that soon, the shot will be offered to all newborns before they even leave the hospital.

Meller also said vaccination for seniors and pregnant women can make a difference in the spread.

For now, the shot is being distributed to babies with risk factors. The CDC may lift those recommendations once more supply is available.

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