“This vaccine predicts a revolution in the health system. The results are extremely conclusive, the last time it was thought to reach 40% protection and it was not achieved, and now it has been far exceeded. It is going to change the course of pediatric disease, because it is going to free hospitals from having so many serious cases“he told Telam Fernando Polack, scientific director of the Infant Foundation.
What is bronchiolitis
The bronchiolitis is an acute respiratory infection that occurs more frequently in the autumn-winter months, and It mainly affects children under 1 year of age.. It can be caused by different viruses; the most common is Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
“70% of infants hospitalized in winter are caused by bronchiolitis, they overwhelm hospitals, generating enormous tension in the medical service”, Polack specified, and explained that in developing countries “50% die at home, they are silent deaths.”
According to the latest National Epidemiological Bulletin of the Ministry of Health of the Nation, in 2022, 173,723 cases of bronchiolitis were reportedwith a cumulative incidence rate of 11,861.8 cases/100,000 inhabitants.
In Argentina, each year, this disease caused by RSV generates some 20,000 hospitalizations and some 600 preventable deaths in children under one year of age.
“With the vaccine there would be a paradigm shift, since with vaccination the hospitalization of 80% of serious cases would be avoided,” explained Polack.
Pregnant mothers will be vaccinated
This type of vaccine is given to pregnant women, just as today the flu or whooping cough is given, so that the child is born prepared to deal with these diseases thanks to the antibodies provided by the mother.
“It is a vaccine designed to be given to the mother, who had contact with the virus several times during her life, then passes the antibodies to the baby through the placenta. The baby, with its antibodies, is protected up to 6 months,” explained to Télam Romina Libster, pediatrician, researcher and specialist in vaccines.
“The most vulnerable moment is the first year, and especially the first 6 months, so what is sought is that when he is born he is already protected,” he added.
