For most adults and older children, contracting RSV will look like just another winter cold: runny nose, cough, and a few uncomfortable days. In an infant just a few weeks or months old, that exact same virus is liable to look completely different. Breathing becomes labored, feeding becomes difficult, oxygen levels may drop, and sometimes the path from the nursery at home ends up in the emergency room, in hospitalization, and even in intensive care.
This is one of the reasons why the upcoming winter may be different for parents of infants in Israel. Following the first winter season in which protection against RSV was given to all infants in their first year of life, encouraging preliminary data is already available from Israel. At the same time, studies from around the world point to a dramatic reduction in the risk of hospitalization.
RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus, is one of the most common causes of respiratory tract infections. In infants, it is liable to cause bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and significant respiratory distress.
The numbers illustrate just how significant a problem this is. According to the Health Ministry, RSV is responsible for about 75% of hospitalizations due to bronchiolitis and about 25% of hospitalizations due to pneumonia in infants and toddlers. In fact, it is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the first year of life.
It is also important to shatter a common misconception: Severe illness is not the domain of premature babies or infants with background health conditions alone. While they are at increased risk, a baby born full-term and completely healthy is also liable to develop severe RSV illness and require hospitalization.
The big change that began last winter
In September 2025, a significant change occurred in dealing with the virus in Israel, when protection against RSV for all infants in their first winter season of life entered the routine immunization schedule.
To be precise, this is not a vaccine in the classic sense, in which the immune system is asked to produce antibodies on its own, but a passive immunization based on a long-acting monoclonal antibody. The infant effectively receives ready-made antibodies that provide protection against the virus.
The protection is given in a single dose. Babies born during the RSV season can receive it at the hospital after birth, while other infants receive it at Tipat Halav family health clinics ahead of the season.
Infants and toddlers who are at increased risk for severe illness are also given protection in their second RSV season of life. According to Health Ministry guidelines, this group includes, among others, children with chronic lung disease related to prematurity, congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis, and additional medical conditions.
And what happened in the first winter?
Initial data from Israel provides reason for optimism.
According to data presented in June 2026, by mid-March about 130,000 infants and toddlers in Israel had received the protection. In the peak week of the 2025–2026 season, the rate of positive RSV samples among infants up to one year old stood at 29.9%. For comparison, at the peak of the previous three seasons, the rate ranged between 56% and 59.7%.
In the community as well, a significant change was recorded: The rate of visits due to bronchiolitis dropped by more than half during the peak week.
It is naturally important to view the data with caution. RSV seasons are not identical to one another, so it is impossible to attribute every drop in morbidity to a single factor. However, when Israeli data joins the experience already accumulated in other countries, the picture becomes much more interesting.
The study that found an 83% drop
In a large European study, it was found that administering the protection reduced the risk of hospitalization due to RSV by about 83%.
In the United States as well, a similar trend was recorded. In the 2024–2025 season, in which widespread use of RSV protection measures for infants was already implemented, hospitalization rates among infants aged 0 to 7 months were about 28% to 43% lower compared to seasons preceding the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the youngest infants, aged 0 to 2 months, in whom respiratory illness can be particularly dangerous, the decrease in hospitalizations reached about 45% to 52%.
This does not mean that Israel will necessarily see identical numbers. The scope of morbidity varies from season to season, and the impact depends, among other things, on the proportion of infants who receive the protection and the timing at which they receive it. But the data provides a solid foundation to expect a significant reduction in severe illness and hospitalizations.
Not just fewer hospitalizations
The significance of preventing severe RSV does not end with the number of beds in pediatric wards.
A European study conducted among children under five treated in the community found that nearly half of the parents of children who contracted RSV were forced to miss workdays. Other studies found that hospitalization of an infant due to RSV is also accompanied by anxiety and a significant emotional burden on parents.
Therefore, preventing severe illness can translate into fewer emergency room visits, fewer hospitalizations, fewer sleepless nights, and less stress on the entire family.
RSV also affects adults, mainly older adults and people with background conditions, and in Israel active vaccines intended for the adult population are also available. But as far as children are concerned, the significant change is the ability to provide broad protection to infants today as early as their first winter of life.
Protection against RSV will not make winter illnesses disappear. Flu, RSV, and other respiratory viruses will continue to arrive every year. But if it is possible to significantly reduce the risk that such a common illness will bring a baby to the emergency room or to hospitalization, this is a change that can be felt not only among families, but across the entire healthcare system.
The writer, Prof. Dov Albukrek, is deputy CEO and head of the medical division at Meuhedet, a specialist in pediatrics, and a member of the Drug Basket Committee.