The RSV Vaccination From Pfizer Protects Foetuses

Nov, 2022 - By WMR

Pfizer said on Tuesday that its maternal RSV vaccination, administered during pregnancy, prevented newborns from exhibiting severe symptoms in the crucial first six months after birth.

The business intends to submit an application for vaccination approval by the end of the year in the hopes that the injection would serve as the first vaccine to help protect newborns against RSV as early as next winter.

The information wasn't published or put via a peer review process before it was released in a news release. However, it provides a ray of hope in the midst of a devastating and early RSV season that has led to an overwhelming surge of respiratory disease.

According to Annaliesa Anderson, chief scientific officer of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, "We're extremely hopeful that everything can be done in time to vaccinate women before the next RSV season." "The RSV season is going to get really busy. Hospitals are beginning to fill up. Everyone recognises the need of acting quickly to avoid this.

RSV is a common respiratory ailment that typically manifests as symptoms of the common cold. The virus can be fatal in young newborns, whose airways are narrower, and it is the main reason for hospitalisation for infants.

The Pfizer injection offers protection via an indirect pathway, in contrast to immunizations that are administered directly to newborns. Because antibodies are normally transferred from mothers to foetuses throughout pregnancy, maternal vaccination is a technique to immediately and temporarily provide children an immunological barrier. As part of maternal vaccinations, vaccines against influenza, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis are also administered.

The Pfizer vaccine, administered early in the third trimester, was 69% effective in avoiding serious illnesses that required medical treatment for more than six months after delivery. Due to the normal decline in antibody levels over time, it was much more effective in the first three months following delivery.