Real world data show that the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine rolled out for pregnant women in the UK last year has already resulted in a 72 percent drop in babies being admitted to the hospital among women who took it. 

Experts predict that as more women take it, England is the home of both the modern anti-vaccine and anti-GMO movements so change takes time, it will further reduce the number of needlessly sick babies each year and therefore the burden on the overtaxed National Health Service system.

Like the now-famous coronavirus, RSV is a common one first recognized as distinct in the 1960s, and it causes coughs and colds but it can lead to the severe lung infection bronchiolitis, which can be dangerous in babies, with some requiring admission to intensive care. RSV is the top infectious cause of hospitalization for babies in the UK and globally.



The vaccine was approved in 2023 and with it, antibodies, proteins which help to prevent the virus causing severe infection, produced by the mother in response to the vaccine are passed to the baby, providing protection from severe RSV for the first six months after birth.

The study had data from 537 babies across England and Scotland who had been admitted to hospital with severe respiratory disease in the winter of 2024-2025, the first season of vaccine implementation. Of those, 391 of the babies tested positive for RSV and mothers of babies who did not have RSV were two times more likely to have received the vaccine before delivery than the mothers of RSV-positive babies – 41 percent compared with 19 percent.

Receiving the vaccine more than 14 days before delivery offered a higher protective effect, with a 72 percent reduction in hospital admissions compared with 58 per cent for infants whose mothers were vaccinated at any time before delivery.

The vaccine is recommended around 28 weeks of pregnancy to provide the best protection but it works any time up to birth.

Those numbers could gp higher. The UK is not as anti-vaccine as France but because the RSV vaccine is new, only half of expectant mothers in England and Scotland are currently receiving it, so results showing high success at preventing serious illness with no harms should improve acceptance.

The findings highlight the importance of raising awareness of the availability and effectiveness of the new vaccine to help protect babies, experts say.