St George’s Hospital in south London has joined an international vaccine trial which could save thousands of British children from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The vaccine is administered to pregnant women to test if it can protect babies from the virus by passing on immunity through the placenta.
RSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalisation and can trigger severe lung problems such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia, causing 20-30 infant deaths in the UK per year and around 33,000 NHS hospitalisations in children under five.
Principal Investigator for the RSVoyage trial and Consultant in Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine at St George’s Hospital Professor Asma Khalil said: “This horrible virus causes misery to tens of thousands of babies in their first year of life in the UK.”
Khalil who was featured on Channel 4 show ‘Baby Surgeons’ for her life-saving intervention in problematic pregnancies stressed that if successful, the vaccine would both spare infants from contracting viruses like bronchiolitis and help take the pressure off hospital services.
The vaccine trial has been implemented at six sites across the UK and 53 hospitals worldwide since last November.
According to Public Health England, cases of RSV rose nationally after the COVID pandemic, with the highest prevalence of the virus in the south of England.
The vaccines trial launch in south London comes after the government’s announced a national RSV immunisation programme last month.
The trial is supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and part of the 10-year Moderna-UK Strategic Partnership, which aims to bring mRNA vaccine manufacturing to the UK.
RSV places young children at greater risk of severe infection due to their under-developed respiratory and immune systems.
The Moderna-sponsored trial of the mRNA-1345 vaccine is driven by a demand to develop a variety of safe and effective prevention modes for infants.
Paediatric infectious disease specialist and chief investigator of the trial Dr Chrissie Jones added that protecting babies against RSV from the moment they are born would make a massive difference to families and the NHS.
Dr Jones said: “RSV is a very contagious infection and every year our wards are full of babies affected by this virus with breathing and feeding problems.
“These hospital admissions are highly distressing for families and cause a huge winter burden on the NHS.”
