Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Recurrent Wheeze

<p id="p001">To the Editor: In the randomized trial reported by Blanken et al. (May 9 issue),(1) the reduction of 9.7 percentage points in recurrent wheezing corresponds to a number needed to treat of 10.3. The risk of hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection and other respiratory causes was 3.7% in the palivizumab group and 7.9% in the placebo group, corresponding to a number needed to treat of 23.8. These numbers are important because of the considerable cost involved in RSV prophylaxis (approximately $6,500 per immunized child per season). Thus, the costs of preventing one hospitalization for respiratory causes in this ...