Issued by: UK Health Security Agency

While around 60% of women giving birth every month are vaccinated, UKHSA warns many thousands of babies still at risk.

UKHSA today publishes the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) annual report [https://tinyurl.com/3sxuj3hr] which shows around 50% fewer infants under 6 months being admitted to intensive care with RSV disease in England. The data demonstrates the annual impact of the NHS RSV maternal vaccination programme for the first time.

Last winter (2025-26), in the 20 NHS trusts taking part in the surveillance there were 63 infants under 6 months age admitted to intensive care units (ICU) or higher dependency units (HDU) with confirmed RSV chest infection.

UKHSA collates data on ICU and HDU RSV admission in England through the SARI Watch sentinel surveillance system with 20 trusts taking part in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

The previous year, 2024-25, the same 20 trusts reported 131 aged under 6 months were admitted to ICU or HDU. This 50% reduction in infants under 6 months during 2025-26, compared with the previous season, demonstrates the strong impact that the first full year of the maternal programme has had in protecting newborns from severe RSV disease.

While the maternal RSV programme started in September 2024, the full impact of the programme on reducing the number of cases and severity of RSV in infants wasn’t expected to be seen until last winter, 2025-26, as more pregnant women became eligible over the course of the past year.

The maternal vaccination programme is offered to women from 28 weeks of pregnancy to protect newborns, who are at higher risk of severe illness from RSV.

The annual report shows that in the 12 months from March 2025 to February 2026, 61.7% of women giving birth had received an RSV vaccine.

While the UK RSV season usually starts in October, last winter cases didn’t start to rise until early November and peaked during weeks 49 to 52 (December) 2025. While there is no risk-free birth month, babies born in late summer or the autumn are most likely to be admitted to hospital from RSV.

In previous seasons, well over 1,000 babies a week were brought to NHS Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments for bronchiolitis through most of November and December. Most bronchiolitis cases seen in hospital are due to RSV.

The report also shows that in 2025-26, peak weekly infant bronchiolitis A&E attendances in England were lower than previous seasons, and the peak season was shorter.

Bronchiolitis is a common viral infection that causes swelling in the small airways of a baby’s lungs. RSV infects around 90% of children in their first 2 years of life. While for many infants it can be managed at home, for some it can be severe requiring hospitalisation including intensive care.

Earlier this year a UKHSA study presented at the ESCMID conference [https://tinyurl.com/ya7x4ru3] showed a dose of the maternal vaccine provides over 80% protection to the new-born infant against hospital admission. The vaccine is recommended to be given in week 28 or soon afterwards, so it can protect most preterm babies and generate the best protection, but it can be given up until labour begins.

Dr Conall Watson, Immunisation Consultant at the UK Health Security Agency, said:

"RSV causes a horrible chest infection – bronchiolitis – in babies, which can make it hard for them to breathe and feed. Some need life support in intensive care units while tens of thousands more need seen in A&E each year. No parent wants their new-born to go through this, when it is now preventable.

"Intensive care admissions have halved since the introduction of the maternal vaccine programme. A&E bronchiolitis attendances are also down. The RSV vaccine is highly effective and has an excellent safety profile in UK monitoring and internationally.

"You should be offered the vaccine by the NHS, but if you are past 28 weeks pregnancy and haven’t yet had it there is still time – it can help protect when given as little as ten days before birth, though longer is definitely better. Late summer and autumn babies are at highest risk from RSV so please contact your maternity service or GP practice to arrange your vaccination.

"The vaccine is recommended in every pregnancy to boosts the mother’s immune system to produce more antibodies against the virus. These then pass through the placenta to help protect the baby from the day they are born."

Secretary for State for Health and Social Care, Yvette Cooper said:

"Maternity and child health needs to be at the heart of our NHS. I believe we need to do more to support mothers and improve children’s health – especially in those early years.

"The RSV vaccine, introduced by this government, saves lives and it is encouraging to see such a positive uptake. We want to see this effectively rolled out everywhere."

Caroline Temmink, NHS director of vaccinations, said:

"Today’s analysis is fantastic news, thanks to NHS staff dozens of new-borns have potentially avoided being admitted to intensive care after their mother received her RSV jab during pregnancy – the vaccine is highly effective at protecting babies from experiencing RSV related complications in the first few months of their life.

"Although RSV spreads most in winter, this virus poses a risk all year round, so if you’re more than 28 weeks pregnant, we would encourage you to speak with your local maternity service or GP practice to find out how you and your newborn can get protected."

The report also provides analysis on disease pattern, vaccine uptake and vaccine impact for both the maternal and older adult vaccine programmes over the past RSV season.

Other key findings include:

• overall RSV cases start early November and peaked over late December period and then steadily declined and reached low levels in March 2026

• RSV infection including peak activity appeared to occur later than in previous seasons

• lower RSV cases were seen as the vaccination programmes took fuller effect

• 65% of eligible older adults had received an RSV vaccine by the end of May this year

• vaccine impact analysis in England indicated a sustained reduction of over 40% in RSV-related hospitalisation rates among eligible adults 75 to 80 years of age

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