New RSV Vaccine Offering Protection for Infants Approved with the Help of Research from Seattle Children’s

Sue Chantorn, laboratory supervisor in Seattle Children’s Research Services Lab, demonstrates sample aliquoting
In a major moment for combatting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), today the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended an RSV vaccine for pregnant persons that researchers have determined is safe and effective in preventing RSV disease in infants through immunization during pregnancy.
The new Pfizer RSV vaccine joins the recently approved monoclonal antibody, nirsevimab, as the first products offered broadly to provide protection against RSV for all babies.
Seattle Children’s researchers studied both the RSV vaccine and the RSV antibody.
Studies for the RSV vaccine at Seattle Children’s were led by Dr. Janet Englund, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and researcher at Seattle Children’s, principal investigator in the Center for Clinical Translational Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington (UW).
RSV is the number one cause of hospitalizations each year at Seattle Children’s Hospital for young children and is the most common cause for hospitalization of all infants in the country, says Dr. Englund.