If a pregnant woman gets vaccinated, her baby receives nest protection.
Image: picture alliance / Westend61
A vaccine that prepares babies for RSV infections was recently approved. Pediatrician and STIKO member Fred Zepp on the benefits and risks.
Last winter, so many children were infected with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that the children’s hospitals were completely overloaded. Why are babies particularly badly affected?
In the first two to three years of life, the infection progresses differently: a stronger inflammatory reaction develops in the lungs, which leads to the typical clinical picture of bronchiolitis. The small bronchi become inflamed, the lung lining swells and the airways narrow. Infants in particular have breathing problems because they are no longer able to breathe out all the air from the previous breath.