With winter in full swing, many Americans are preparing for the heightened risk of respiratory illnesswith a mixture of hope and concern.

New medical interventions offer reason to hope for a better shield against preventable disease, especially important for our vulnerable loved ones. But barriers to access and use remain a concern, mainly as hospitalizations for respiratory viruses are on the rise. Our nation’s response to respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, makes the issue clear: if we want to turn our hopes into reality, we must invest in our public health system to identify new threats and respond to them robustly.

This time last year, America faced an alarming surge in RSV cases in young children. RSV can have severe health effects on young children and older adults, including trouble breathing that can lead to hospitalization and death. But this year, we have a powerful new means of protection against the virus.

In addition to approving the first RSV vaccine for people ages 60 and up, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recently recommended using an RSV shot called Nirsevimab, also called Beyfortus, for babies under eight months and even some older at-risk infants and toddlers. What’s more, the CDC also recommended another new RSV vaccine at specific points during pregnancy as an additional safeguard for infants.

These new immunizations promise a huge future public health win for America, similar to our prior successes in preventing childhood diseases like polio. RSV is one of the most common causes of childhood respiratory illness, with 58,000 to 80,000 children under age 5 hospitalized each year nationwide, mainly infants. Some studies suggest Beyfortus could reduce the risk of infant hospitalizations and healthcare visits for RSV by about 80 percent.

This exciting development follows other recent successes in vaccine innovation that have reduced death and disease. For example, the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines in under a yearprevented millions of deaths, earning the vaccine developers a Nobel Peace Prize. Similarly, the swift deployment of vaccines and treatments in the summer of 2021 helped the United States successfully counteract a severe outbreak of mpox.

To deliver on the full potential of these interventions, we need a robust public health system designed to reach all people — especially vulnerable populations — in accessible, available and equitable ways. Unfortunately, that’s not yet our nation’s reality. In the case of RSV, a supply shortage recently led the CDC to urge pediatricians to ration the shot. This happened at the same time children’s hospitals prepared for a surge in admissions due to respiratory illness, which also led the CDC to expedite the release of 77,000 additional doses of the RSV shots.

In addition to access issues, families are increasingly opting their kids out of routine vaccinations due to factors like distrust in the healthcare system, misinformation, and intentionally misleading information known as disinformation. The combined effect? Vaccination coverage among kindergarteners is lower now than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And less vaccinated children mean a greater risk of illness and outbreaks, which threaten community health and further overtax our medical systems.

The United States’ response to RSV illustrates the importance of investing in public health systems to quickly, effectively and equitably counteract emerging health threats. But this requires funding the CDC to monitor early warning signs based on hospitalizations and emergency department visits, laboratory tests and wastewater testing — rather than slashing the CDC’s budget, as proposed in House Republicans’ fiscal year 2024 appropriations plan.

Investing in public health also means funding data systems that track and monitor disease, identify at-risk populations, and target resources equitably. It means combatting misinformation and disinformation and supporting our public health workforce that engages communities to address their needs and concerns. It means expanding vaccine access among uninsured adults. And finally, it means providing new authority for the FDA to monitor the drug supply chain, and monitor and prevent shortages of critical vaccines and therapies.

The season of winter respiratory illnesses is a stark reminder that if we genuinely want to keep American families safe from existing and emerging health threats, we must invest in our public health system, not undermine it.

Jill Rosenthal is the director of public health policy at the Center for American Progress. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.

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