HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021_09_27 DLurie_Reducing RSVFrom:Dayna Lurie
To:Board of Health
Subject:Reducing RSV in all children
Date:Monday, September 27, 2021 11:15:13 AM
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Hello Jefferson County Board of Health,
My name is Dayna Lurie and I am working here in Washington State to ensure equitable
access to treatments that will immunize infants against the top cause of hospitalization for
U.S. children under the age of two and the cause of 58,000 hospitalizations each year for
children under five: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
RSV is a respiratory virus that has initial symptoms easily confused with the common cold.
However, the contraction of the virus can be deadly. Among U.S. kids under age 5, RSV
typically leads to 2 million doctor-office visits each year, 58,000 hospitalizations and up to 500
deaths — higher than the estimated toll on kids from COVID-19. Worldwide, the virus impacts
3 million newborn children and kills more than 100,000 each year.
Historically, there has been no specific treatment for RSV. The good news is that, after
decades of research, there are now multiple vaccines in the pipeline that will prevent RSV in
infants.
I am reaching out to you today to see if you would be willing to work with us to contact the
Biden Administration and our leaders in Congress and encourage their support for
equitable access to RSV prevention by ensuring these new products are included as part of
the CDC’s recommended childhood immunization schedule and covered by the federal
Vaccines for Children Program (VFC).
While some of the RSV vaccines in development use new technology, delivering passive
instead of active immunization like traditional vaccines, they belong on the CDC schedule and
in the VFC program because they can provide the same level of protection from severe
disease and hospitalization as existing vaccines and such a recommendation is a clear and
visible sign of support from the experts that greatly helps confidence in immunizations.
To ensure coverage for children of all incomes and backgrounds, RSV immunizations also need
to be included in the federal Vaccines for Children program. Children on Medicaid and Native
American/Alaskan Native children, who often rely on VFC for immunizations, have double the
risk of severe RSV. VFC covers the more than 40 million children who are uninsured,
underinsured, or eligible for Medicaid; more than half of all children in the U.S. benefit from
this wildly successful program, which has a proven track record of closing racial and income
disparities in childhood immunizations.
TAKE ACTION
This is a timely issue as we are currently experiencing a surge in RSV cases severe enough in
some parts of the country for the CDC to recently issue a health advisory (The Pacific
Northwest has had its own experience with RSV surges as you can see from this 2020 news
story).
Please help encourage Washington leaders Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell,
Congresswoman DelBene and Congresswoman Kim Schieier along with key figures in the
Biden administration to take steps to ensure that upcoming RSV vaccines are widely available
to all children. Would you be willing to send a letter/email to the Congressional offices and
Administration contacts?
Thank you for the consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
All the best,
--
Dayna Lurie
Hilltop Public Solutions
dlurie@hilltoppublicsolutions.com
425.241.8153 (c)
hilltoppublicsolutions.com