RSV vaccine for mothers can help baby

Cold and flu season is not far off, but right now, new parents need to be aware of another respiratory virus called RSV. Almost all children will get it during their first two years, and thousands will have serious complications.

Now, a new FDA-approved vaccine can protect your baby, even before the little one is born.

Even before birth, mother Kristin Gelegotis did everything she could to give Harper the best start, including getting the RSV vaccine.

“I trusted it 100%,” Gelegotis said.

The peak season for RSV starts right now and runs through January. The RSV vaccine for pregnant women helps to protect the baby, even before birth.

“The way the pregnancy vaccine works is the vaccine causes the mom to make antibodies and those antibodies cross the placenta, and then the baby is born with those antibodies ready to protect them against the virus,” said University of Utah’s doctor Lauren Theilen.

Theilen said the best time for moms-to-be to get the vaccine is during their third trimester, between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. The most common risks are soreness at the injection site, fatigue, muscle pain and nausea.

“We have to consider what the harms of not being vaccinated are,” Theilen said.

RSV symptoms can cause trouble breathing, coughing, poor feeding, lethargy and irritability; it can turn into pneumonia and can cause asthma during childhood. Doctor Theilen believes the vaccine is a crucial step in protecting newborns.

“As a mom, you just want to give anything the best for your baby,” Gelegotis said

Now, Gelegotis knows she did everything she could to give Harper a healthy start.

There was concern during a clinical trial with another RSV vaccine that it may cause preterm births, but the vaccine that is FDA-approved in the U.S. does not carry the same risk.