Palivizumabe for Respiratory Syncyntial Virus Prophylaxis

Outcomes in Children

Abstract

Objective: this review aims to verify the scientific evidence about the outcomes of children who received palivizumab as a prophylactic measure against respiratory syncytial virus. Methods: the search was conducted in five databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, SCOPUS, SCIELO, WEB OF SCIENCE, and LILACS. A combination of descriptors based on the DeCS/MeSH multilingual structured vocabulary and Boolean operators AND, OR, and AND NOT was used. Using the PICO strategy, a guiding question was formulated. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established in advance. Results: after applying the search strategy, 710 articles were found, of which 14 were selected to be read in full. The main results indicate that prophylaxis with palivizumab is effective in preventing respiratory infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children at increased risk of these infections, has reduced the incidence of hospitalizations related to RSV, and the antibody is safe and well tolerated. Conclusion: prophylaxis with palivizumab reduces the incidence of RSV infection and RSV-related LRTI hospitalizations in preterm infants and children with heart disease. Additionally, it equalized the frequency of lower respiratory tract infections in preterm infants to that of term-born infants. However, additional high-level evidence studies are required to confirm these findings.