{"id":6604,"date":"2024-08-13T15:03:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T15:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/13\/pregnant-women-urged-to-get-vaccine-that-could-prevent-thousands-of-baby-hospitalisations\/"},"modified":"2024-08-13T15:03:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T15:03:03","slug":"pregnant-women-urged-to-get-vaccine-that-could-prevent-thousands-of-baby-hospitalisations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/13\/pregnant-women-urged-to-get-vaccine-that-could-prevent-thousands-of-baby-hospitalisations\/","title":{"rendered":"Pregnant women urged to get vaccine that could prevent thousands of baby hospitalisations"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vaccine rollout against a common lung disease could prevent 5,000 babies a year being admitted to hospital, according to public health experts.<\/p>\n

Population modelling led by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) suggests that the jab against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection could also avoid 200 infants needing intensive care.<\/p>\n

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From next month, women past the 28th week of pregnancy will be offered the vaccine to protect their babies from the moment they are born.<\/p>\n

RSV infects around 90% of children within the first two years of life. In most cases it causes mild, cold-like symptoms.<\/p>\n

But it can lead to severe lung infections, including pneumonia and infant bronchiolitis, and is a leading cause of infant mortality globally.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Illness from the virus is the main cause of winter pressures in children’s hospitals each year, leading to increased demands on paediatric intensive care units and cancelled operations.<\/p>\n

It accounts for approximately 20,000 hospital admissions in children under one year and is responsible for 20 to 30 infant deaths in the UK each year.<\/p>\n

‘Protection is all you could wish for’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christine Burlison, whose baby became seriously ill from the virus, is urging pregnant women to take up the new vaccine.<\/p>\n

Her daughter, Aria, was 11 days old when she began struggling to breathe and was taken to hospital.<\/p>\n

Doctors said she had developed bronchiolitis, a blocking of the airways in the lungs, as a result of RSV.<\/p>\n

“Now having the option of a vaccine that could prevent other families having to go through the same experiences as ours did is simply amazing,” Ms Burlison said.<\/p>\n

“The most terrible thing that you can face as a parent is seeing your child struggling to breathe.<\/p>\n

“Having that protection for a newborn is all you could wish for.”<\/p>\n

The study, published in Lancet Regional Health Europe earlier this year assumes 60% of pregnant women will take up the vaccine.<\/p>\n

A second spike of cases occurs in the elderly, so people over the age of 75 will also be offered the jab to boost their immunity.<\/p>\n

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UKHSA, said the vaccination programmes would protect lives as well as ease NHS winter pressures.<\/p>\n

“The vaccine is a truly positive moment for the public’s health,” she said. “I urge all those eligible, to take up the offer when the programmes begin in September.”<\/p>\n

Pregnant women are given the vaccine so their bodies produce antibodies against the virus, which cross the placenta into their baby.<\/p>\n

They are then protected from the moment they are born.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n

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