Last Updated on November 30, 2022 by Team THIP
Quick Take
A social media post claims that evidence suggests that COVID vaccines are responsible for increasing RSV cases. We fact checked and found this claim to be False.
The Claim
An article on a website shares an image that reads, “Evidence suggests that COVID Shots are responsible for soaring RSV cases throughout the U.S. & Canada.”
Fact Check
What is RSV?
RSV, or Respiratory syncytial Virus, is a common respiratory virus. It causes mild, cold-like symptoms infecting the nose, throat, lungs, and breathing passages. Generally, most people recover within a week or two. However, in cases of infants or older adults, RSV can be serious. This seasonal lung infection is highly contagious.
According to the CDC, it is the most common cause of pneumonia (infection of the lungs) and bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) in children younger than one year of age in the United States.
It spreads either through direct contacts, such as coming in contact with respiratory droplets (coughing, sneezing, or kissing) from an infected person or indirect contact, such as touching surfaces contaminated with the virus and then touching yourself.
Are COVID vaccines responsible for increasing cases of RSV?
No. There’s no conclusive evidence that proves or shows that Covid vaccination makes people more susceptible to RSV. If this were true that Covid vaccination puts people at higher risk of RSV, then this impact would have been seen a long time ago on all age groups.
The FDA document which is being referred to in the post refers to a minuscule number. The RSV infection was reported in 0.4%. In fact, as per the data, 0.1 per cent of placebo recipients who didn’t receive the vaccine also were infected with RSV.
It further states, “There is not a clear biological mechanism that would explain a causal association for certain respiratory infections but not others. Overall, the frequency and clinical course for these events do not appear unusual given the age group of the study population and the season (fall-winter) during which the study took place, and the observed imbalance could be due to chance.”
It must also be noted that the highest number of cases of RSV are seen in infants and children and till now, whereas there is no COVID-19 vaccine authorized for children younger than 6 months old.
Also, the immune system is highly specific to millions of antigens. If a person is gaining immunity to one virus, it doesn’t mean that immunity to other viruses would be reduced.
The World Economic Forum states that the reason for the increase in RSV cases is that many children were shielded from common infections during lockdowns.
According to the CDC, children are at a higher risk for infection as, due to lockdowns, their immune systems weren’t exposed to the virus as much over the last few years. This lack of exposure may also be the reason why children are more susceptible to RSV as well as the flu and other respiratory illnesses, such as rhinovirus and general colds.
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