CP-144 Analysis of the use and effectiveness of palivizumab in a tertiary hospital. (24th March 2015) - Lizardi, A
Abstract : Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections can be prevented by good hygiene and prophylactic palivizumab, a monoclonal antibody against the fusion protein of VRS. The criteria for selecting patients for palivizumab prescription in our hospital are: <28 weeks preterm infants (PI) and age <12 months (criterion 1), <32 weeks PI and age <6 months (criterion 2), age <2 years with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (criterion 3), age <2 years with haemodynamically significant congenital heart disease (criterion 4). Purpose: To describe the use of palivizumab in the vaccination campaign in our hospital, evaluating the appropriateness of its use by the established criteria and its effectiveness. Material and methods: We performed a retrospective observational study. All patients who received palivizumab between 01/10/2013 and 31/03/2014 were included. The data collected using the clinical records were: sex, gestational age, selection criteria, and number of hospitalizations due to acute bronchiolitis between 01/10/2013 and 30/09/2014. RSV was analysed in these patients by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Results: Palivizumab was administered to 68 patients (48.5% female) with a median gestational age of 209 days (176–287). 24 patients (35.3%) fulfilled criterion 2, 14 (20.6%) criterion 1, 10 (14.7%) criterion 4, 5 (7.3%) criteria 1 and 3, 4 (5.9%) criteria 2 and 4, 3 (4.4%) criterion 3, 2 (2.9%) criteria 3 and 4. 4 patients did not meet any criteria and 2 had no data. Only 6 patients who received palivizumab were hospitalised with a diagnosis of acute bronchiolitis and their RSV PCRs were negative. Conclusion: Palivizumab is used under the established criteria in our hospital. The study data show that immunising these at-risk patients with the palivizumab vaccine was an effective strategy for at least one year. Although the study period was 1 year, it would be desirable to measure effectiveness over a longer period. References and/or Acknowledgements: No conflict of interest.