NHS Trusts and GP practices across Hampshire will play a vital role in a new respiratory virus study looking into the leading cause of infant hospitalisation.

RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation in all infants worldwide and affects 90 per cent of children before the age of two. In recent months, there has been a resurgence of RSV following the easing of the Covid public health measures.

The ground-breaking HARMONIE study will take place at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), which runs hospitals in Andover, Basingstoke and Winchester, and is a collaboration between Sanofi, its partner AstraZeneca, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

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Research is a vital part of HHFT’s culture, enabling them to continuously improve the health and wellbeing of their community and provide outstanding care for their patients.

The study is evaluating the efficacy of nirsevimab, a monoclonal antibody immunisation, in protecting against RSV, one of the leading causes of infant hospitalisation worldwide.

RSV often causes only mild illnesses, like a cold. However, for some babies, it leads to more severe lung problems such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

More than 20,000 infants across three countries (United Kingdom, France and Germany) will take part in the study, from August 2022 to March 2023.

Jummy Awoseyila, principal investigator for the HARMONIE study at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, said: “Each year we treat more than 400 babies across our hospitals who are unwell because of RSV infections. We are very pleased to be a part of this exciting and important study, looking towards the future of how we manage RSV infections and care for some of our smallest patients.

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“RSV bronchiolitis is a leading cause of hospital admissions amongst infants in the winter months. Harmonie is a research study looking at how strongly babies can be protected from this illness by giving them a single dose of nirsevimab. Several studies have been completed and results look very promising, with nirsevimab significantly reducing the chance of babies getting unwell with RSV infection or needing hospital treatment.”