RSV jab. To do, or not to do?

[Foxylass]

I hope this is the right place to ask.
My daughter in law (sons partner) and my daughter are both pregnant. The babies will be the first grandchildren in our family.

They have both been offered the RSV jab and are unsure about it. They are not anti-vaxers, they've both had other jabs.

They both look to me for advice, but it is so long since I was pregnant, and much has changed.

I've looked it up online, and to be honest, I am not much wiser.

I think actual experience would be great to learn from, to some extent. So I am looking to you for advice please?

Both 'mums' are UK based, neither smoke, both healthy, aged early 30's and late 20's (if any of that is useful).

I think the worry is, that it seems to be a fairly recent addition to the vax programmes and for a while it was banned.

Thank you in advance.

What do you mean by “for a while it was banned?”

The vaccine is to protect your unborn grandchildren from a disease that could cause death. The mothers’ health is not really a factor here.

It wasn’t banned. The current rollout is of a new vaccine, it wasn’t available before.

The mother’s health is irrelevant. RSV is dangerous for infants and elderly people. It’s their babies that are at risk from RSV not them.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/new-respiratory-syncytial-virus-vaccine-to-protect-millions-most-at-risk-this-winter/

I'll be getting it. I was encouraged by the safety profile when I did a quick Google and read about it across various sources - sorry, I can't remember which ones now if you want to be directed to them.

Agree that maternal health is irrelevant: it's to protect their baby against RSV which can sometimes be fatal.

Yes, they should get them.

Having watched both my niece and nephew be hospitalised as babies with RSV, I will certainly be getting the jab when it is offered. My niece and nephews dad has asthma which has definitely made them more vulnerable, and so does my partner so I will do anything to avoid seeing my baby in hospital on oxygen like they were. It hasn't been banned, it's just been being developed and now it's ready to be rolled out to pregnant women and the elderly.

Why on earth would they not? It's to protect their babies from a potentially very dangerous disease. I just had it and was very grateful, as it wasn't available when I had my first baby.

There's no question in my mind.

My daughter has bronchiolitis at the moment which could have been avoided with the RSV vaccine. She's not slept or eaten in three days, neither have I, and quite frankly we're on the 'lucky' end of the spectrum in terms of RSV-related illnesses.

It's safe, tested, new - and has NEVER been banned.

I 100% would have this.

I have a 6 month old daughter and this vaccine wasn’t offered when I was pregnant with her, but if it had been I absolutely would have had it.

It was never banned, please please don’t write misinformation like this. There is a difference between trials being stopped for safety concerns and vaccines being withdrawn from the market once approved. It’s a recent addition yes, but has been in development for many years.

It’s being given to pregnant women to protect their babies at a critical age when RSV can cause them to be very unwell if they catch it. I don’t know why you would take the risk and not have it.

Why would they look to you for advice and not their healthcare professionals?
A lot of things will be different from when you had your children so you should encourage them to follow the latest guidance as luckily we continue to progress.

Oh for goodness sakes, not another of these threads. Why would you not have it? Vaccines are not a conspiracy. The NHS would not fund something that is a) not beneficial b) could cause them more work. Just take it and be grateful you live in a country where you have access to such things.

What's with the dog whistle anti vax posts today? What do people get from this?

Nothing to do with the mothers ‘health’

Its to protect the baby when its born, and to be honest, i have no idea why they would even be questioning it

It's to protect newborn babies not the mother, so it's irrelevant if they smoke or what their age is.
By the mothers having the vaccine it passes immunity through the placenta to the baby and therefore they will have some immunity when they are born.
It's been given out across Europe and the US for a while now and has been a very successful programme.
The NHS are so strict on trials here for pregnant women and there's so much we can't have (medicine wise) if they are saying it's safe then I'm inclined to believe what they are saying. Imagine how awful it would be not to get vaccinated and then the baby contracts RSV and is hospitalised.

Seen so many of these recently and about the flu vaccine for children as well, think it’s that time of the year and they are all coming out from under their rocks

I have a friend who lost a baby at less than a month old to RSV, would you like me to ask their view?

I’m pregnant and I’m planning on having it (as well as the whooping cough vaccine) later in my pregnancy. RSV can be devastating to babies, and the best way to protect them is the vaccine. The vaccine has been given in other countries before this year successfully. I’m healthy (other than asthma), a non smoker and early thirties but none of the can protect my baby against diseases which babies are unfortunately susceptible to.

My son was put on a ventilator at 2 weeks old after catching RSV. This was during the summer months when they don't expect there to be many cases of RSV about. He then caught RSV 5 further times in his first year, twice requiring CPAP and 3 times requiring low flow oxygen. I wish the vaccine had been an option whilst I was pregnant.

My newborn developed bronchiolitis from RSV, he was admitted to hospital on oxygen and tube fed for a week, and narrowly escaped ventilation and intensive care. I will absolutely be having the vaccine.

Banned? It’s new

RSV hospitalises so many babies every other year, They just cant breathe.

My daughter ended up
In ITU with RSV at 11 weeks old. It was horrendous. The jab is a no brainer

No it wasn’t banned.
I would tell them that I would have wished this was a available when I was pregnant to protect them and isn’t modern medicine and advances wonderful. That RSV kills babies, there is no treatment so the vaccine is amazing, truly is.

It baffles me how people can still be so dim when it comes to things like this. Surely these adult women can ask their midwife about this and not their mother/mother in law (who clearly doesn’t have the foggiest about this vaccine).

It was never banned. It’s brand new and lifesaving.

Pregnant midwife here and I shall be having it. Just sorry it wasn't around when I was pregnant with my son!

This jab is designed to protect young babies from the ravages of RSV bronchiolitis, which is an incredibly common cause of hospital admission, and one of the most common reasons for PICU transfer in winter. If this is even partially effective, the benefit would be fantastic. In winter children's wards are literally full of babies with RSV bronchiolitis, often on breathing support, or needing tube feeding. Yes, other bugs can cause bronchiolitis, but most of it is RSV. I am incredibly excited about the potential impact upon paediatrics. This is the most exciting step forward since the meningococcal jab came out.