RSV Surge Strains Brazilian Health Services as Maternal Vaccine Is Deployed

Overview

• Surveillance from Fiocruz’s InfoGripe shows a mid‑2026 rise in RSV‑linked severe respiratory cases across the South, much of the Southeast and several northern and northeastern states, driving higher demand for outpatient and hospital care.
• The SUS offers an RSV vaccine to pregnant women from 28 weeks of gestation so mothers transfer antibodies through the placenta and protect newborns for roughly six months, the period when most bronchiolitis hospitalizations occur.
• Children under two accounted for the bulk of SRAG in 2025, with official data showing about 82% of cases and nearly 24,000 infections in infants up to six months, underscoring why newborn protection is a priority.
• Two RSV vaccines are approved for adults and sold in the private market; clinicians report one adjuvanted product gives at least three years of protection for older or high‑risk adults, and a US study found large drops in hospitalizations among vaccinated seniors.
• There is no widely available antiviral for RSV, so public guidance stresses maternal vaccination, adult vaccination for those at risk, and simple measures such as staying home when sick, masking, hand hygiene and avoiding contact with vulnerable people.