Maternal vaccine research next frontier at St John of God Health Care hospitals

15 May 2017

15 May 2017

The Maternal Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccine Trial, led in WA by the Telethon Kids Institute and currently underway at St John of God Subiaco, Murdoch and Mt Lawley hospitals, is assessing whether a vaccine given to pregnant women can help protect their newborn babies against the virus.

Co-investigator and Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St John of God Subiaco Hospital Dr Michael Gannon said RSV was the leading cause of paediatric emergency department presentations as well as the number one cause of admission to paediatric hospitals and intensive care units.

“Maternal vaccination is very much the new frontier,” Dr Gannon, who is also the Australian Medical Association President, said.

“The rationale for the current instituted programs for maternal influenza and pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination is that if you vaccinate the mother during pregnancy, she will sustain an immune response and the antibodies will be passively transferred across the placenta to the baby.

“This will then give the baby protection for those crucial first few months of life.

“This trial is looking to see whether or not maternal vaccination against RSV will give small babies that protection in the first 12 months of life.”

Currently in its second year of recruitment and trials, robust safety mechanisms have been built into the trial to protect participants.

Dr Gannon said St John of God Health Care’s involvement in this trial highlights the important role the private health care sector plays in teaching, training and research.

“The trial is a great example where women having their babies at a St John of God Health Care hospital can not only do their bit to advance the cause of science, but they are the vanguard of what we hope will prove to be an effective treatment,” Dr Gannon said.

Recruitment

• The trial is currently recruiting pregnant women who have an expected delivery date up to 11 June 2017
• Find out more at the Telethon Kids Institute website

About Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

• RSV, is a virus that infects the airways and lungs. It is similar to the viruses that cause the flu or the common cold. RSV causes symptoms such as runny nose, cough and trouble breathing and is extremely common.
• Almost every infant is exposed to RSV by the age of two. Many children experience mild symptoms that are mistaken for the common cold and get better without treatment.
• Newborn babies up to six months old can develop more severe complications such as bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lungs) or pneumonia and may require hospitalisation due to the infant not being able to feed or requiring oxygen. 
• Source: Telethon Kids Institute