The vaccines can prevent many hospitalizations and deaths, but that does not mean that the RS virus has been defeated. The vaccines are 80 percent effective, so it will still occur. According to Janneke Dronk of the Dutch College of General Practitioners, it will therefore have fewer consequences for GPs than for hospitals. “Babies go through about six to ten infections in their first year, so they often come to the doctor,” explains Dronk, “because you always have to look at them. Even if they have been vaccinated.” The message that a child has RSV will soon be less bad news, but that does not mean that the GP will see them less often. “Of course we are very happy with it,” she adds. “But this is a solution for that first year of life when RSV can be so dangerous.”
Major breakthrough in the fight against RS virus, with consequences for urban hospitals here and child mortality worldwide
