Study calls for universal vaccination for pregnant women, children against RSV

A team of researchers led by a University of Florida Health scientist recommends the universal immunization of pregnant women and infants against RSV, following a yearslong assessment of the impact of hospitalizing children with respiratory syncytial virus.

The study was published in The Lancet Regional Health Americas on Oct. 6.

With the research, Nirma Khatri Vadlamudi, Ph.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, and her team of Canada-based researchers aim to reduce the global disease burden of RSV, a major cause of lung infection and pneumonia in pediatric populations, especially infants.

Though Vadlamudi’s work studied Canada’s children, she said the results apply equally in the United States, where, according to a 2023 study in The Lancet, 89% of 2,000 infants studied suffered an RSV infection in their first year of life that resulted in a health care visit.

In severe cases, RSV can cause wheezing, a barking cough and difficulty breathing.