Jab could cut hospital admissions for babies with RSV by 80%, study finds

A vaccine could reduce the numbers of babies and young children being admitted to hospital with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by 80%, a "groundbreaking" study has found.

- Tobi Thomas

The study, published in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine, involved 8,058 healthy babies aged up to 12 months from the UK, France, and Germany, who were approaching their first RSV season.

Of this group, 4,037 infants were randomly assigned to received the vaccine nirsevimab, while 4,021 babies received standard care.

The research found that of the babies who received the vaccine, only 11 (0.3%) were hospitalised, in comparison with the 60 (1.5%) who were admitted after receiving just the standard care.

Researchers said the trial showed the vaccine nirsevimab reduced the likelihood of hospital admission from six admissions per 1,000 in previously healthy infants, to one admission per 1,000 in previously healthy infants who did receive the vaccine, which is an efficacy of 83.2%. 

The research was conducted by Sanofi and AstraZeneca.