RSV vaccines are leading to far fewer babies in hospitals: 4 things you need to know
From protecting individual babies to reducing hospital admissions, studies from around the world are revealing the benefits of RSV vaccination.
- 2 November 2026
- 4 min read
- by Linda Geddes
At a glance
- A recent study found that maternal RSV vaccination reduced babies’ risk of being hospitalised with RSV-related lower respiratory tract infections by 73.6%.
- Countries that have introduced maternal RSV vaccination programmes are also seeing reductions in hospitalisations at a population level. In England, admissions for RSV-related bronchiolitis among babies younger than three months were 62.6% lower between September 2024 and March 2026 than would have been expected without vaccination.
- This study also found that intensive care admissions for bronchiolitis among babies younger than three months were 41% lower than expected following the introduction of maternal vaccination.
Three years after the first maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines began being rolled out, mounting real-world evidence shows the difference they’re making to babies’ health.
Studies from some of the first countries to introduce maternal RSV vaccination suggest that babies whose mothers were vaccinated have a 70–80% lower risk of being hospitalised with RSV than those whose mothers weren’t.
Meanwhile, national studies are recording substantial falls in hospital admissions since vaccination programmes began.
Here are four things we’ve learned so far.
1. Maternal vaccination cuts babies’ risk of being hospitalised with RSV by nearly three quarters.
RSV is a common virus that affects the nose, throat and lungs. Although most infections are mild, it is a leading cause of lung infections and hospitalisation in young children worldwide.
Babies are particularly vulnerable because their airways are small and their immune systems are still developing.
Clinical trials established that maternal vaccination could protect babies against serious RSV illness during their first months of life, by allowing protective antibodies to pass from mother to baby across the placenta.
Now, real-world studies are revealing how well this protection holds up across larger and more diverse populations.
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, combined evidence from 21 real-world studies of maternal RSV vaccination published between July 2024 and September 2025.
Most of the studies came from the US, with others from the UK, Argentina and France.
When the researchers pooled data from four of these studies that specifically assessed vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation in babies under six months old, they found that RSV vaccines reduced babies’ risk of being hospitalised with RSV-related lower respiratory tract infections by 73.6%.
2. Fewer babies are being hospitalised with RSV-related illness at the regional and national level.
Countries that have introduced maternal RSV vaccination programmes are also beginning to see benefits at a population level, with substantial reductions in hospital admissions for RSV-related illness among young infants.
In England, where maternal RSV vaccination was introduced in September 2024, researchers recently compared hospital admissions among babies, following the programme’s introduction with the numbers expected based on historical trends.
The study, published in Eurosurveillance, found that admissions for RSV-related bronchiolitis (a lung infection that can cause breathing difficulties) among babies younger than three months were 62.6% lower than expected between September 2024 and March 2026, even though maternal vaccination only averaged around 55% during this period.
RSV vaccines reduced babies’ risk of being hospitalised with RSV-related lower respiratory tract infections by 73.6%.
In Argentina, researchers examined admissions for RSV-related lower respiratory tract infections among babies younger than six months at hospitals in Buenos Aires.
They estimated that admissions were 33.6% lower than expected following the introduction of maternal vaccination in 2024.
Although the reductions reported in England and Argentina differed, the studies examined different age groups and used different methods, making direct comparisons difficult.
Other factors, including differences in RSV circulation between seasons may also have influenced hospital admission rates.
Even so, the findings suggest that maternal vaccination programmes are helping to reduce the burden of serious RSV illness on hospitals, as well as protecting individual babies against the virus.
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3. Maternal vaccination is also reducing intensive care admissions.
In the most severe cases, babies with RSV may develop serious breathing difficulties and need to be admitted to intensive care, where they can receive more advanced breathing support.
The English study found that intensive care admissions for bronchiolitis among babies younger than three months were 41% lower than expected following the introduction of maternal vaccination – although this figure included bronchiolitis caused by any virus, not just RSV.
4. Real-world studies are providing reassurance about vaccine safety
Clinical trials provided important evidence about the safety of maternal RSV vaccination, but continuing to monitor larger numbers of women and babies in real-world settings can help to identify rare side-effects that might not have been detected during trials.
A systematic review and meta-analysis – published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe – combined data from three real-world studies involving more than 16,000 pregnancies, and found no evidence that vaccination between 32 and 35 weeks of pregnancy increased the risk of premature birth.
The researchers concluded that the safety profile of the vaccine was favourable.
