HPR volume 20 issue 4: news (30 April 2026)
Updated 1 May 2026
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Effectiveness of maternal RSV vaccine in England confirmed
The maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine programme in England has provided a high level of protection to new-born infants, including those born prematurely, a UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) evaluation of the programme’s first year of operation has shown (1,2).
The maternal vaccine was particularly effective if given more than 4 weeks before babies were born. In that case, vaccination provided nearly 85% protection against RSV infection – a finding that supports giving vaccination early in the third trimester, at week 28 of pregnancy, or soon after.
Summary results of the UKHSA evaluation – the largest to date to assess the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing infants being admitted to hospital for bronchiolitis, the main cause of hospital admission in infants – were presented by the study lead, UKHSA epidemiologist Matt Wilson, at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases global conference, held in Munich on 18 April. A full report on the findings is being prepared for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.
Maternal vaccine uptake has been steadily rising since the RSV vaccination was introduced in the UK on 1 September 2024 (for all pregnant women and for some categories of older adults). To evaluate the effectiveness of the maternal programme, researchers analysed the electronic health records of 289,399 infants born in England between September 2024 and March 2025 and linked the data to the immunisation records of their mothers. In this cohort, 4,595 infants were found to have been admitted to hospital with RSV-associated LRTI – the vast majority of whose mothers had not been vaccinated.
The researchers estimated that – after adjusting for covariates – overall vaccine effectiveness was 81.3% (95% confidence interval: 78.9 to 83.4%) when mothers had been vaccinated at least 14 days before giving birth. Effectiveness was highest in mothers vaccinated more than 28 days before birth. However, even later vaccination – up to 10 to 13 days before birth – provided some protection, although this dropped to 50% when the mother was vaccinated only 10 to 13 days before giving birth.
The evaluation also found that the vaccine, if delivered in good time, provided significant protection for preterm infants who are among the most vulnerable to severe RSV infection. Among those born before 32 weeks, vaccine effectiveness was 62%; among those born between 32 and 37 weeks, it was 70.6%.
Dr Conall Watson, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA and national programme lead for RSV, said:
Respiratory syncytial virus can cause life-threatening chest infections for babies and half of newborns will have caught RSV before they are a year old. The RSV vaccine works by giving a significant boost to the pregnant woman’s immune system so it can pass antibodies through the placenta and protect the baby from the day they are born.
Our analysis of the vaccination programme in England confirms the results of an earlier clinical trial but this study was 40 times bigger and clearly shows the hugely beneficial effect in reducing hospital admissions. Getting vaccinated in week 28 of pregnancy, or soon after, gives excellent protection to both term and preterm babies when they are tiny and most vulnerable to severe RSV.
References
1. M. Wilson, H. Whitaker, J. Walker, E. Heymer, A. Cobbold, C. Watson, N. Andrews (2026). ‘Maternal RSV vaccination and reduced risk of hospitalisation for babies in England, 2024/25’
2. UKHSA news story. ‘RSV maternal vaccine cuts baby hospital admissions by up to 85%’
Infection reports in this issue
Laboratory confirmed cases of measles, rubella and mumps in England: October to December 2025