Plummeting hospitalizations, healthier babies: East Alabama’s RSV vaccine success

AUBURN, Ala. (WRBL) – A virus that once filled pediatric hospital beds and terrified new parents is finally being pushed back—before babies are even born.

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, remains one of the most dangerous threats to infants under six months. According to the CDC, RSV sends between 58,000 and 80,000 children under age five to the hospital every year in the U.S. and results in 100 to 300 deaths annually.

It doesn’t just come with fevers and coughs—it brings oxygen tubes, hospital stays, and long-term damage scaring a child’s lungs for life. But a relatively new vaccine given in the final weeks of pregnancy is changing the story.

“Hospitalization rates across the country [are] going down 82% in the first three months of life,” said Dr. Emily McInnis, OB/GYN at Lee OB/GYN in East Alabama.

Officials at East Alabama Health say the numbers reflect what they’re seeing on the ground.

“Over the past 18 months or so, we have seen a significant drop in RSV hospitalizations among our pediatric population,” said John Atkinson, Public Relations and Marketing Director for East Alabama Health. “We firmly believe this is a result of the increased education efforts to help moms-to-be understand the importance of receiving the RSV vaccine during their pregnancy. Just like there are unique guidelines for women regarding nourishment, activities, and avoidance of alcohol during pregnancy, the decision to receive the RSV vaccine can be beneficial to the baby by increasing their immunity to RSV.”

The CDC confirms RSV is a leading cause of infant hospitalization in the U.S., and that “2 to 3 out of every 100 infants under 6 months” require hospitalization for the virus each year. The RSV vaccine, given between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, helps expectant mothers pass protective antibodies to their babies—offering critical immunity in the earliest, most vulnerable months of life.

“It’s a major cause of hospitalizations, and in worst-case scenarios, even mortality,” Dr. McInnis said. “Anything we can do to avoid that is beneficial. And then you also have to look at the other things down the road that it can help prevent, like asthma. A lot of your pediatric patients that get RSV will develop asthma as they get older.”

Recent CDC data from the 2024–25 RSV season show hospitalization rates dropped 45–52% for infants under 3 months old, and 28–43% for babies up to 7 months, when protected by either maternal vaccination or infant antibody treatment.

Dr. McInnis says this kind of passive immunity is one of the most powerful new tools in maternal medicine—and she’s seen its impact firsthand. “You know, the facts speak for themselves. So when I tell people our hospitalization rates have decreased by half and we’re not seeing near the mortality, morbidity of hospitalizations with kids, that speaks for itself. And so most patients, when they hear that, they’re like, ‘Okay, well, that’s a no-brainer.’”

Side effects from the vaccine, McInnis says, are minimal—typically just injection-site soreness. No serious long-term effects have been reported.

“We have not seen any long-term effects from this that would make that risk more than the benefit, in my opinion.”

Now, OB/GYNs across the country—including in East Alabama—are urging pregnant patients to get informed, ask questions, and consider the vaccine, especially ahead of RSV season this fall.