When her daughter was born at 25 weeks gestation last January, Vancouver mom Lauren Colborne was terrified little Georgia wouldn’t make it.
“We were prepared for worst case scenario,” said Colborne.
After 110 days in the neonatal intensive care unit, Georgia was well enough to go home. But doctors warned Colborne that the infant’s premature lungs were vulnerable to a severe RSV infection this winter, and she needed protection.
“There’s the RSV prophylaxis, and that one is essentially to protect infants from RSV as much as possible. We were told in the NICU that it shouldn’t be an issue to have it,” said Colborne.
So she applied to the B.C. government to get Georgia a dose of the monoclonal antibody medication, and was told her daughter didn’t qualify under a points system used to determine eligibility.
“It’s extremely disappointing that we weren’t covered by B.C., that B.C. did not have our back,” said Colborne. “I just don’t understand why they’re not protecting the most vulnerable members of our society — babies.”
The Colbornes were told they could not buy the medication privately in B.C., so they took Georgia to Washington state where she got the injection from a doctor in Bellingham last fall. And they’re glad they did. Two weeks ago, Georgia was admitted to BC Children’s Hospital with a fever and difficulty breathing.
“It was the doctor who informed us that she had had RSV, and that it had progressed to bronchiolitis,” said Colborne.
That doctor told the worried parents that if they hadn’t paid US$500 out of pocket for the antibody medication in Bellingham, Georgia could have ended up in the ICU.
“I believe that, because that’s what we were told the entire NICU stay. Just because she has the chronic lung disease of prematurity, her lungs are not strong enough to fight off something like RSV,” said Colborne.
Fabiana Bacchini with the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation says the medication can be life-saving.
“The injection is not going to prevent the babies from getting getting sick, but is going to help them to recover faster and have a less severe illnesses,” said Bacchini.
If Georgia lived in Ontario or Quebec, she would likely have qualified for the RSV protection shot.
“We are really calling for equal access to the prophylaxis for all babies, because we know the impact of RSV, especially on babies who are born preterm with very immature lungs,” said Bacchini.
In a statement, the province’s Health Ministry said RSV protection for high-risk infants is managed by the BC Infant RSV Immunoprophylaxis Program that is run by BC Children’s Hospital, and follows national guidelines on who qualifies for the medication.
It went on to say: “If a provider has concerns regarding their patients' access to RSV product, we encourage them to engage BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre clinicians with additional information to guide clinical decision-making.”
With help from the monoclonal antibody, Georgia has recovered from the RSV infection. But her parents know not everyone can afford to travel out of province to get the medication, and are asking the B.C. government to make it more widely available here.
“It’s not fair,” said Colborne. “If Georgia’s story can help change things in the future, that’s what we want from this.”
