A nationwide survey of people who were pregnant or trying to become pregnant found that overall 54 percent expressed interest in the RSV vaccine during pregnancy.
Perceiving RSV as a serious illness in infants was the strongest predictor of likely vaccination during pregnancy. Likelihood to receive the RSV vaccine during pregnancy was also higher among parents with a child at home already. Findings were published in the journal Pediatrics.
The study included a diverse and representative sample of 1,528 participants. Overall, 40 percent of respondents perceived that RSV illness among children is both serious and likely, whereas 45 percent perceived RSV illness as serious but not likely, and 16 percent did not view RSV illness as serious. Twenty percent said they had never heard of RSV.
Sixty-three percent of respondents who thought that RSV illness was both serious and likely reported they would be very likely to get vaccinated against RSV during pregnancy, while only 31 percent of those who thought RSV illness was not serious (regardless of whether they thought it was likely) would do so.
