Vaccine offer to protect premature babies from common winter virus

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Premature babies in Wales will be offered an injection to protect them against a common winter virus.

The jabs would combat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is a common, but potentially dangerous, infection which nine in ten children will have had by the age of two.

More than a thousand babies in Wales are hospitalised every year with RSV.

For most people, RSV causes a mild illness such as a cough or cold, but babies under the age of one year, and older people, are at risk of being seriously unwell from the virus.

For children born very prematurely, the risk of contracting RSV in their first winter is high.

The Nirsevimab medicine provides protection with just one injection, replacing the monthly injections which were previously offered to high-risk babies.

Its introduction follows the launch of the first ever RSV vaccine for pregnant women and adults aged 75 to 79, which was rolled out last year.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which has recommended the new one-time injections, has advised the vaccine is offered to all babies born before 32 weeks who are entering their first RSV season.

In the UK, the RSV season typically starts in October, peaks in December and declines by March.

It is hoped the new treatment will help ease some of pressures the NHS faces during winter.

Wales’ health secretary, Jeremy Miles, said: “We are following the advice of the JCVI to offer this new treatment to babies who are at greater risk of harm during the RSV season.

“This will mean they will only need one dose, instead of multiple doses and it will protect them for longer.

“This is part of our efforts to prepare the NHS in Wales for winter and protect those who are most at risk.”