A recent poll of 88 university hospitals in Europe showed that approximately 8000 children are admitted yearly in their pediatric infectious disease units because of RSV bronchiolitis Epidemiological study in the Netherlands shows that 40% of bronchiolitis cases admitted to tertiary care facilities belong to one of the recognised high-risk groups (BPD, congenital heart disease and prematurity), 40% are eventually admitted to intensive care units, and 25% are artificially ventilated. Although RSV-related mortality is a rare event, morbidity is considerable especially in high-risk populations. Thusfar no effective treatment or vaccine is available. Prophylactic administration of high-titer RSV-specific immunoglobulin to high-risk patients reduces the risk for severe RSV disease. However, because of the necessity for multiple intravenous immunoglobulin infusions administered to a large group of patients over a relatively short time-span during the RSV season, it is not clear if the therapy is cost-effective in health care facilities different from the ones in which the product was tested, especially those of European countries with health insurance systems based on multilateral negotiated fixed annual budgets. The potential role of immunoglobulin prophylaxis for RSV bronchiolitis in Europe will depend on the decisions individual national healthcare authorities reach in this matter, awaiting more effective medical therapeutic modalities, an effective vaccine or more easily administered monoclonal antibody preparations.