Protect your baby against RSV

As of November 1, 2024, a new medication called nirsevimab will be available in Quebec to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

RSV is a common, highly contagious respiratory virus, infecting nearly all children by two years of age.

It is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children less than one year of age.

A Quebec-based study found RSV was the most common virus (63.6 per cent) in children hospitalized for acute respiratory infection, with higher severity in children born prematurely and babies under six months of age (Papenburg et al, 2012).

Nirsevimab will be available at CLSCs and local points of service for:

• All newborns born during RSV season (November 1 to March 31)
• Infants less than six months of age at the start of the RSV season who have not previously received a dose of the medication
• Infants aged six or seven months at the start of the RSV season who have not previously received a dose of the medication and have one of the following susceptibility conditions:
  • Born less than 37 weeks of pregnancy
  • Residing in remote and isolated communities
  • With certain medical conditions:
    • bronchopulmonary dysplasia
    • chronic lung disease
    • congenital heart disease or hemodynamically significant cardiomyopathy
    • moderate or severe pulmonary hypertension
    • cystic fibrosis
    • Down syndrome (trisomy 21)
    • significant impairment of airway secretion clearance due to a neuromuscular disorder or congenital upper airway anomaly
    • bone marrow, stem cell or solid organ transplant
• Infants less than 19 months of age at the start of the RSV season and with any of the medical conditions above

How is it given?

Nirsevimab is administered at the start/during RSV season as an intramuscular injection, usually in the thigh muscle.

Where will it be given?

• Babies born DURING the RSV season: dose given at birth hospital before discharge

• Babies born BEFORE RSV season: dose given at CLSC with 2-month or 4-month vaccine, or by appointment through Clic Santé

• Babies with certain criteria: by appointment through Clic Santé, or on in-patient wards and in certain outpatient clinics at the Montreal Children’s Hospital

Don’t hesitate to book an appointment for your child!