RSV vaccine trials show critical protection in newborn's first months

UCI Health pediatric infectious disease
specialist Dr. Coleen Cunningham.

IN THE NEWS: For older adults and infants, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a serious illness. A new Pfizer vaccine given to pregnant mothers in two company-funded clinical trials was found to offer their newborns significant protection from the virus from birth to six months.

UCI Health pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Coleen Cunningham, who was not involved in the trials, spoke to Healthline about the promising results, which are being studied by the FDA for possible approval.

“This strategy [of vaccinating a pregnant mother] is expected to be very helpful during the first several months of life, which is a time that the children are most vulnerable.”

Cunningham, chair of the UCI School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, is also pediatrician-in-chief and senior vice president at CHOC Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where UCI Health has an affiliation.

Read more:

• Healthline: Pfizer RSV vaccine trials show protection for infants and older adults ›
• Protecting children from RSV ›
• Is COVID-19 altering childhood diseases? ›
• UCI Health pediatrician leads efforts to test RSV vaccine ›