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BORN is making changes to support our health system efforts to improve infant health in alignment with the recent Ministry of Health announcement of an expanded, publicly funded infant Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) prevention program starting this fall.  

About the Infant RSV Protection Program 

There are 2 publicly funded products offering seasonal protection: 

  • Beyfortus® (Nirsevimab, a monoclonal antibody) for infants born in or approaching their first RSV season and children up to 24 months of age who are at high risk for RSV 

  • AbrysvoTM, a prenatal vaccine that is available to pregnant people who are 32-36 weeks pregnant and will deliver during the RSV season.  

As indicated in the Ministry of Health’s Infant RSV Guidance for Health Care Providers – Beyfortus and the Aug 27th letter from the Chief Medical Officer of Health: 

  1. Beyfortus® is the preferred method for safeguarding infants against RSV 
  2. Beyfortus® should be offered to infants born during the RSV season before discharge from care at time of birth. 
  3. Administration of both the vaccine to the pregnant individual and a monoclonal antibody to the infant is unnecessary, except in specific cases (e.g., high-risk infant born to a vaccinated pregnant person). 

High uptake of these new protections will significantly improve infant health by reducing RSV infection rates and avoiding thousands of infant admissions to hospital and visits to primary care clinicians. 

Changes to the BORN Information System (BIS)

Data Elements

New data elements related to RSV protection (summarized below) will be integrated into the BIS in November 2024.

  • Prenatal vaccine (AbrysvoTM) administration and date

  • Infant RSV antibody (Beyfortus®) administration and date

  • Reason infant antibody was not given

  • High-risk criteria

System Benefits

The changes we are making to the BORN Information System (BIS) will:

  • Capture the new data about infant RSV protection provided at birth (or during pregnancy) from birthing hospitals and midwifery practice groups

  • Support organization’s/practice’s oversight of this new care standard with new reporting features

  • Identify areas of success and opportunities for improvements in local, regional and provincial programming

  • Fuel province-wide surveillance of uptake and coverage for use by the Ministry of Health, ICES, Public Health Ontario, Provincial Council for Maternal Child Health, Maternal Child Regional Networks, and others

  • Centralize infant RSV protection information in the registry that will allow for future functionality to share a newborn’s RSV protection status with clinicians in the circle of care to facilitate improved coverage and opportunities for protection.

Support

FAQs and more detailed information about the data elements are available. BORN will be hosting several live webinars in September to review BIS changes and provide opportunities to ask questions. Hospitals and Midwifery Practice Groups can contact their BORN Regional Coordinator to get more information. 

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