The World Health Organization (WHO) has prequalified a version of the maternal vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that includes several doses in one vial. 

Vaccinating pregnant people in the third trimester protects their newborns against RSV infection and reduces a baby’s risk of being hospitalized with the virus by more than 80%.

Vaccines need the WHO’s seal of approval before United Nations agencies such as UNICEF can buy them to distribute to lower-income countries.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, agreed last year to fund the introduction of maternal RSV vaccination in multiple countries, and has been working to lay the groundwork for its rollout. Although the WHO prequalified single-dose vials in 2025, Gavi’s maternal RSV vaccination program could not begin until the agency prequalified multi-dose vials, which reduce the cost and difficulty of mass immunizations.

Benefits of multi-dose vials

Multi-dose vials allow healthcare professionals to vaccinate more people, but take up less storage space on delivery trucks or in clinics. Multi-dose products also make it easier to maintain a “cold chain,” in which vaccines are refrigerated at an appropriate temperature on the journey from the factory into people’s arms.

RSV hospitalizes 3.6 million and kills 100,000 children under age five years each year, according to the WHO. Newborns are especially vulnerable.

Pfizer released the maternal RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, in the United States in 2023. The Gates Foundation provided funding to develop a multi-dose version.

Getting the multi-dose product prequalified “is a key milestone for RSV and, more broadly, for pneumonia prevention and reducing infant mortality globally,” said Ignacio Esteban, Gavi’s senior policy manager and incoming head of the adult and adolescent vaccines portfolio.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday announced a new Salmonella outbreak linked to broccoli sprouts produced by Evergreen Fresh Sprouts. 

So far at least 22 people in four states have been sickened, and two patients have been hospitalized. No deaths have been linked to this outbreak. The sprouts were sold to food co-ops, restaurants, food service customers, and grocery stores in Idaho, Montana, and Washington. Sixteen people in Washington state have been sickened, four in Montana, and one each in Idaho and Utah. 

Illnesses started on dates ranging from July 7 to August 26. The sprouts were packaged in plastics bags or clam shell containers with expiration dates of 9/7, 9/9, 9/11, 9/14, and 9/16. The CDC said consumers should toss any sprouts meeting that description. 

CDC adds 1,150 more Cyclospora cases to US total 

In other food outbreak news, yesterday the CDC added 1,150 Cyclospora cases to the US total, lifting the caseload to 19,595 infections. The agency said it is investigating 9,355 additional lab-confirmed cases and 6,149 suspected cases.

“Recent illnesses may not yet be reported due to the time it takes to identify and report Cyclospora cases,” the CDC said. "It takes about six weeks from the start of symptoms to when CDC receives the case information.”