Just this week, Pfizer announced it’s moving forward with seeking FDA approval for a new Respiratory Syncytial Infection (RSV) vaccine.
According to the CDC, RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms but can lead to serious illness in infants. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children younger than one.
The trial has been underway since June 2020 and some local moms are participants through Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
CCHMC said the goal was to enroll 40 mothers, some of which knew their babies were at high risk.
Local mom Beth was one of those moms who said she wanted to try to protect her baby from the start.
“I have a toddler at home who attends daycare and I know because of that, I have an increased risk of having RSV brought into our home,” Beth said. “Knowing that I’m going to have a very, very small infant in the middle of RSV season, I wanted to do everything that I could to try to protect them.”
Beth said she had no side effects from the vaccine, although she doesn’t yet know if she received the placebo or the actual vaccine.
Dr. Elizabeth Schlaudecker with CCHMC said the vaccine is given to pregnant mothers in the hopes that they can then make antibodies that cross the placenta and protect the baby in the first, most vulnerable months of life.
According to Pfizer researchers, the vaccine appeared to be about 80% effective at preventing severe RSV in infants in the first three months of life and cut a baby’s risk of needing to see a doctor for an RSV infection by half.
Back in March, the FDA designated Pfizer’s RSV vaccine as “breakthrough therapy” which is a status that will help speed its review.
The approval is still a slow process with the vaccine expected to be more widely available in one to two years.
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