Press releases

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Impact Act to study the impact of RSV, which can be serious for infants and older adults.  

“RSV causes tens of thousands of hospitalizations each year. When young children get sick, their parents often struggle to balance caring for their kids at home and meeting goals at work. I introduced the RSV Impact Act to give us insight into how we can better protect against this illness and help families recover from it,” said Kennedy. 

RSV leads to mild symptoms for most individuals who contract it, but the virus can seriously impact infants and the elderly in particular. Annually in the U.S., RSV leads to nearly 2.1 million outpatient visits and 58,000 hospitalizations for children under five years old.

Parents have reported high stress levels, poor health and lost productivity at work as a result of caring for children who contract RSV.

The RSV Impact Act would require the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to study RSV transmission in schools and day cares and the impact this virus has on the domestic economy, particularly on parents who have to miss work. The bill would require the Academy to send a report of its findings to Congress. 

Text of the RSV Impact Act is available here.