Fewer infants are experiencing severe respiratory illness from RSV following the introduction of a national immunization program in the Netherlands, according to research from UMC Utrecht.
RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus, is a common cause of respiratory infections in young children, and can be particularly dangerous for infants. While it often presents as a mild cold, it can lead to serious complications requiring hospitalization in highly young babies. The implementation of RSV immunization, which began in September 2025, appears to be having a positive impact on ICU admission rates.
“Vaccinating pregnant women and giving babies a jab can help prevent babies from getting a life-threatening infection with RSV,” said Louis Bont, a paediatric infectious disease specialist at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in Utrecht, in 2023 when a second vaccine received approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The Health Council of the Netherlands recommended including RSV protection in the National Immunisation Programme in 2024, and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport adopted this recommendation.
Emily Phijffer, a physician-researcher at UMC Utrecht, collected data that supported the decision to include RSV immunization in the national program. She recently earned her PhD on March 12, focusing on the impact of this preventative measure. “When I started my PhD, I sometimes said out loud that protecting all babies from RSV disease was the goal of our research group. With the introduction of RSV immunisation in the National Immunisation Programme, something has really changed for newborns,” Phijffer stated.
The decision to implement the immunization program was based on several factors, including the severity of the disease, vaccine safety and effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and public acceptance. This research builds on years of work by doctors and researchers both in the Netherlands, and internationally.
While the current program focuses on vaccinating newborns, vaccination for pregnant women is not yet standard practice in the Netherlands. Researchers continue to explore ways to further improve protection against RSV. This development is significant as RSV is a leading cause of respiratory infections in young children worldwide, and reducing its impact is a key public health goal.
Further research into RSV and potential vaccination strategies is ongoing at UMC Utrecht’s RSV research group. vaccination studies are being conducted to assess the safety and immune response of RSV vaccines in combination with COVID-19 vaccines for individuals aged 50 and older.
