{"id":613904,"date":"2026-04-17T23:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/613904\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T23:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:35:07","slug":"rsv-vaccine-for-mothers-cuts-baby-hospitalizations-85","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/613904\/","title":{"rendered":"RSV Vaccine for Mothers Cuts Baby Hospitalizations 85%"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) study \u202f Maternal RSV vaccination and reduced risk of hospitalisation for babies in England 2024\/25<\/a> , clearly shows\u202fthe maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programme is providing over 80%\u202fprotection for newborn infants,\u202fincluding those born\u202fprematurely. The study found vaccination at least 2 weeks before the birth gave 81.3% protection. A narrow range of statistical uncertainty, 78.9% to 83.4%, means there is high confidence in the protective effect of the vaccine.\u202f<\/p>\n

The study, which analysed data\u202ffrom the first year\u202fof vaccine roll out (24\/25),\u202fis believed to be the largest study in the world evaluating\u202fthe effect of\u202fmaternal RSV vaccination\u202fin\u202fpreventing infants\u202fbeing\u202fhospitalised\u202ffor RSV\u202fchest\u202finfection. RSV causes\u202f\u202f bronchiolitis<\/a> \u202f(infection and inflammation of the small airways of the lung)\u202fand is a major cause of hospital admission\u202fin infants.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

The maternal vaccination programme is offered to women from 28 weeks of pregnancy to protect newborns.\u202f<\/p>\n

The study followed\u202fnearly 300,000\u202fbabies born between September 2024 and March 2025,\u202frepresenting\u202faround 90% of all births in England during this period. Using routinely collected electronic health records, UKHSA researchers assessed the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing hospital admissions.\u202fMore\u202fthan 4,500 hospitalisations occurred in this cohort, the vast majority in infants whose mothers had not been vaccinated.\u202f<\/p>\n

Getting the vaccine on time was best (in week 28 or soon after that), as babies born at least 4 weeks after their mother was vaccinated had\u202fnearly 85%\u202fprotection.\u202fBut importantly, even vaccination later in pregnancy still gives\u202fsome\u202fprotection, with\u202fvaccination as close as 10 to 13\u202fdays before birth reducing\u202fhospital admissions by 50%.\u202f<\/p>\n

The study, which will be\u202fpresented on 18 April at\u202fthe\u202f European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases<\/a> \u202f(ESCMID) global conference,\u202falso found that premature babies, who are particularly vulnerable to RSV, can be well protected, provided there is at least 2 weeks between vaccination and birth.\u202f<\/p>\n

Matt Wilson,\u202fEpidemiologist at UKHSA, presenter and lead author, said:\u202f<\/p>\n

Our evaluation of the first season of the\u202fprogramme\u202fin England gives important confirmation that maternal RSV vaccination is highly protective for newborn infants, over 80%,\u202fand\u202fthat\u202feffectiveness reached nearly 85% when vaccination occurred at least 4 weeks before birth.\u202f<\/p>\n

These findings are\u202falso\u202fparticularly important for preterm infants, who are among the most vulnerable to severe RSV infection.\u202f\u202fWith sufficient time between vaccination and birth, we saw good levels of protection in these babies. Giving the vaccination early in the third trimester, as recommended by the World Health Organization, could protect most preterm infants,\u202fso\u202fit’s\u202fimportant that midwives and other healthcare workers offer vaccination on time with the schedule – and that pregnant women promptly take it up.<\/p>\n

Maternal RSV vaccine uptake in England continues to climb, reaching 55% during the study period and the latest data showing uptake rising to 64.1% for women who gave birth in November 2025<\/p>\n

Dr\u202fConall Watson,\u202fConsultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA, one of the senior authors and national\u202f programme lead for RSV, said:\u202f<\/p>\n

RSV can cause life-threatening\u202fchest infections\u202ffor babies.\u202fHalf of newborns will have caught RSV before they are a year old. As an expectant\u202fparent you have no idea if they are going to be severely ill\u202for not.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

Our\u202fanalysis of the RSV vaccination programme in England is important confirmation of the results from the clinical trial, but this study is 40 times bigger and\u202fclearly shows the hugely beneficial effect on reducing hospital admission.\u202fGetting\u202fvaccinated in week 28 of pregnancy or\u202fsoon after\u202fgives\u202fexcellent\u202fprotection to\u202fboth\u202fterm and preterm babies\u202fwhen they are\u202ftiny and\u202fmost vulnerable to severe RSV.\u202fThe\u202fRSV\u202fvaccine\u202fgives a brilliant\u202fboost\u202fto\u202fthe\u202fpregnant woman’s immune\u202fsystem\u202fso it can\u202fpass\u202fantibodies through the placenta\u202fand\u202fprotect the baby from the day they are born.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) study \u202f Maternal RSV vaccination and reduced risk of hospitalisation for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-613904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}