HAMPSHIRE'S ambulance service is the first in the country to provide an antibody jab for babies to be protected against a dangerous virus.

South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) will be offering an antibody jab for babies who need protection against one of the leading causes of hospitalisation in all infants worldwide, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

RSV affects 90 per cent of children across the world before the age of two and now for the first time, research paramedics and nurses from SCAS will offer families the opportunity to be involved by visiting them at home if they are unable to travel to hospitals, GP practices or vaccination centres.

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Even though RSV often causes only mild illnesses like a cold, for some babies it leads to more severe lung problems such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia – and there has been a resurgence of the virus following the easing of Covid public health measures.

Martina Brown, research, and clinical audit manager at SCAS, said: “We are extremely proud to be the first ambulance trust to utilise our dedicated research paramedics and nurses to immunise patients against this potentially dangerous winter virus."

In a study known as HARMONIE, researchers across the UK will give babies up to the age of 12 months who are in, or are approaching, their first RSV season a single dose of nirsevimab, a monoclonal antibody immunisation. 

They will then assess how strongly they can be protected from serious illness due to RSV infection. The antibody has recently been approved by both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and has been shown to reduce lower respiratory tract infections in previous trials.

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However, more research is required before it can be rolled out across the NHS and more than 20,000 infants across three countries (UK, France and Germany) are set to take part in this stage of the study.

Dr Simon Drysdale, consultant paediatrician in infectious diseases at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and co-chief investigator of the study, said that the study is critical to helping the NHS find out whether it is feasible and beneficial to routinely implement nirsevimab in healthy babies. 

The HARMONIE study looks at how strongly babies can be protected from illness caused by RSV infection through a single antibody dose, which acts in the same way as antibodies in our own bodies but is targeted to fight RSV.

To find out more go to www.rsvharmoniestudy.com.