The Nunavut government says it will provide immunization against respiratory syncytial virus to all infants in the territory this fall, a policy change that one pediatric infectious diseases specialist has been advocating for decades. “This new immunization program is vital because RSV ..
. poses a significant health risk to infants,” Dr. Ekua Agyemang, Nunavut’s deputy chief medical officer of health, said in an email to The Canadian Press on Thursday.
The territory will give infants Nirsevimab, a single-dose antibody injection with the brand name Beyfortus, that was authorized by Health Canada in April 2023. The antibody injection is approved for newborns and infants during their first RSV season, as well as children up to 24 months old who continue to be at risk of severe illness. Previously, Nirsevimab was mostly recommended for infants who were born prematurely because of their increased vulnerability to lower respiratory tract infection from the virus.
But all Inuit infants — including those carried to full term — are at higher risk of serious illness from RSV due to risk factors such as crowded living conditions, as well as being far from hospital care if they need it, said Dr. Anna Banerji, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist in Toronto who has spent decades lobbying for universal immunization for Inuit infants. “If a baby in Nunavut in (a) rural community gets sick with RSV then they have to wait for a medical evacuation team to come and get them,�.
