Health professionals at hospitals and GP practices across the South West will play a vital role in a new respiratory virus study looking into the leading cause of infant hospitalisation.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation in all infants worldwide and affects 90% of children before the age of 2. In recent months, there has been a resurgence of RSV following the easing of COVID-19 public health measures.

The HARMONIE study is a collaboration between Sanofi, its partner AstraZeneca, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Oak Tree Surgery in Liskeard and The Rame Group Practice in Torpoint are two of the nine sites which will be running the ground-breaking study.

Tamsin Simpkins, Research Physician at Oak Tree Surgery in Liskeard, said: “This vaccine can help protect babies from severe chest infections like bronchiolitis and pneumonia after the first dose, and we are hoping this will significantly reduce the number of babies needing to be admitted to hospital.”

Find out more about the study by visiting the HARMONIE website: https://rsvharmoniestudy.com/en-gb.