Starting in 2023, vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) became available for adults aged 60 or older. Each year in the U.S., RSV infections lead to 100,000 to 150,000 hospitalizations and up to 8,000 deaths among people 60 and older. To assess the vaccines’ real-world effectiveness, a case-control study published online on August 30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) looked at nearly 7,000 adults 60 and over who’d been hospitalized with respiratory illnesses at Montefiore Einstein and 25 other U.S. hospitals.

After comparing the vaccination status of patients testing positive for RSV (about 12% of patients) and those who tested negative for RSV, COVID-19, and flu, researchers found that:

• Overall, a single RSV vaccine dose reduced the risk of hospitalization or serious illness due to RSV infection by 58%.
• The two primarily available RSV vaccines (from Pfizer and GSK) were equally effective against both of the RSV subtypes (A and B). (A third RSV vaccine, from Moderna, was introduced in June 2024.)
• RSV vaccination reduced by about 70% the risk for severe outcomes including respiratory failure, ICU admission, and death.

The results underscore the importance of improving vaccine uptake among older adults, especially those at highest risk for severe disease due to RSV infection.

Authors of the JAMA paper included members of the Montefiore Einstein Division of Critical Care Medicine: Michelle Ng Gong, M.D., M.S., interim chair of the department of medicine, professor of medicine and of epidemiology and population health, and chief of the division of critical care medicine and of pulmonary medicine and Amira Mohamed, M.B.B.S., associate professor of medicine and director of Critical Care Fellowship at Einstein.