The US health authorities on Monday for the first time approved a vaccine to protect babies from bronchiolitis to be given to pregnant women for this purpose.
• Also read: President Joe Biden has arrived in Hawaii
• Also read: Record rain in California after Hilary’s crossing
The vaccine from the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, marketed under the name Abrysvo, is aimed against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which primarily affects small children.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a statement that the vaccine was approved for pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks gestation. The single injection is into a muscle.
Children are protected for the first six months of life, the FDA explains.
The same vaccine had been approved in the United States for people aged 60 and over since May.
It was also approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in July – for both babies and the elderly – but the European Commission must now decide on its marketing authorization within the European Union.
This virus “is a common cause of illness in children, and infants are among those most at risk of developing serious illnesses that can lead to hospitalization,” FDA official Peter Marks said. He welcomed this new option against a “potentially deadly” disease.