More than 5,000 children have been vaccinated in Malaga against Respiratory Syncytial Virus since September

MALAGA 20 October. (EUROPE Press) –

On September 23, the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Government of Andalusia started the campaign to prevent bronchiolitis caused by the respiratory syncytial virus 2024-2025. Since then, a total of 5,193 children have been vaccinated in Malaga.

As indicated by the Board in a note, of these, 4,509 are babies born before the vaccination season, that is, between April 1 and September 30. The rest is divided between the 357 born since October 1, the 237 premature babies less than 35 weeks old, and the 90 high-risk babies less than 24 months old.

RSV is the leading cause of bronchiolitis in infants, leading to numerous emergency and primary care visits, as well as hospital admissions each year. In this campaign, it is expected that up to 60,000 children will receive throughout Andalusia, and a total budget of 15.8 million euros has been allocated for that.

During this 2024-2025 campaign, it is expected to achieve the vaccination levels of the previous campaign, in which 9,893 children under the age of six months were vaccinated in the Malaga region, reaching a coverage of 91.5%.

In this campaign, small children born from April 1, 2024 are vaccinated in their corresponding health centers, and babies born from September 23 to March 31, 2025 receive the dose in the – delivery room or in the maternity ward before they leave the hospital.

In addition, it will be given to children under one year of age with a history of prematurity of less than 35 weeks, as well as other babies with very high chronic pathologies that are up to 24 months old. With this vaccine, infection with this virus is prevented in an “effective and safe” way, a respiratory condition that is, above all, in autumn and winter. In this sense, it is recommended that all parents with children under the age of six months should accept the invitation to be vaccinated against RSV.

This is the second time that Andalusia is doing a vaccination campaign against RSV. In 2023-2024, more than 93% of all children born between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024 received the drug, those who received the vaccine had 80% fewer hospital admissions for RSV bronchiolitis than those he didn’t get it. It is estimated that around 2,000 hospitalizations for bronchiolitis in children under the age of six months in Andalusia have been avoided as a result of this vaccination campaign.