Jab for winter virus could cut baby hospitalisations by 80%, study says

Hospital admissions from a winter virus could be reduced by more than 80% if babies are given a single dose of a new antibody treatment, a study says.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but can lead to bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

More than 30,000 under fives are hospitalised with RSV in the UK annually, resulting in 20 to 30 deaths.

One British parent said her son getting RSV was "very scary" as a first-time mother.

Lorna and Russell Smith's eldest son, Caolan, got the virus when he was eight months old and was admitted to hospital twice - each time requiring oxygen.

Now aged two, he has made a full recovery.

"I hadn't heard of RSV and wasn't sure what to do. He had laboured breathing due to high temperature and was quite lethargic. It brought a lot of anxiety and stress," Lorna said.

The Harmonie study involved 8,000 children up to the age of 12 months, with half receiving a single dose of the monoclonal antibody treatment nirsevimab.

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that RSV-related hospitalisation was reduced by 83% in those receiving the jab and admissions for all chest infections were cut by 58%.

Side effects were similar in both groups and mostly mild.

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Source: BBC News, 27 December 2023