Palivizumab is a man-made antibody to respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-ul) virus (RSV). RSV can cause serious illness in children. Palivizumab helps keep RSV cells from multiplying in the body.

Palivizumab is used to prevent serious lung disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus in premature infants, and infants born with certain lung disorders or heart disease.

Palivizumab will not treat a child who is already sick with RSV disease.

Palivizumab may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Palivizumab should not be given to a child who has had a severe allergic reaction to it.

Before your child receives a palivizumab injection, tell your doctor if the child has a bleeding or blood-clotting disorder; or a low level of platelets in the blood.

Do not use this medicine at home if you do not fully understand how to give the injection and properly dispose of used needles and syringes.

Call your doctor at once if your child has a serious side effect such as high fever, ear pain or drainage, warmth or swelling of the ear; crying or fussiness, change in appetite or sleeping patterns, easy bruising or bleeding, or trouble breathing.

Call your doctor for instructions if you miss an appointment for your child's palivizumab injection.

Palivizumab should not be given to a child who has had a severe allergic reaction to it.

If your child has any of these other conditions, he or she may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely use this medication:

• a bleeding or blood clotting disorder; or

• a low level of platelets in the blood.

It is not known whether palivizumab is harmful to use while pregnant or breast-feeding. Although this medication is generally not used in adults, a woman of child-bearing age who is treated with palivizumab should tell her doctor if she is pregnant or breast-feeding.