Vaccine season is here: One doctor's advice for pregnant women to get the RSV vaccine

It may be hard to imagine in this warm weather, but winter will soon be approaching. Not only does that mean cold weather, but with it, often comes an onslaught of illnesses. Healthcare workers are advising Coloradans to get vaccines, including pregnant women eligible for the RSV vaccine.

"So these vaccines, the influenza vaccine, the Covid vaccine, the RSV vaccine are all going to be really important to protect individuals, but we also know that they can protect members of our community or family members," state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said.

While some may be hesitant to get these vaccines, Dr. Annette van Swaay, AdventHealth Medical Group OB/GYN at Denver Tech Center, is helping her pregnant patients understand the benefits and safety behind the RSV vaccine.

"I think there's always some hesitancy around vaccines in general since it's a new vaccine," Dr. van Swaay said. "I think that makes people a little more nervous, but RSV is certainly something that new parents worry a lot about their newborns being exposed to, so I think just kind of explaining that this is the best way to decrease that risk to them because of the past, the only way to decrease the risk was really limiting exposure, whereas now we have this vaccine, which helps a lot."

RSV can cause fear in many families as it can be serious and even fatal for babies, according to the CDC, nearly every child will get RSV by the time they are 2 years old.

"I think if anyone has ever seen an infant with RSV, they know how scary it is to see them have to be hospitalized or struggling to breathe, needing breathing treatments and it can be fatal in some cases," Dr. van Swaay said.

To help protect newborns from getting very sick with RSV, Dr. van Swaay is recommending her pregnant patients get the vaccine now instead of waiting until after their child is born.

"You might hear about that instead of getting vaccinated during your pregnancy for RSV, that your baby could get the vaccine, as a newborn, but I encourage moms to get vaccinated because that's depending on the availability of the infant vaccine, might not always be a possibility," Dr. van Swaay said.

Swaay is pregnant with her first child and is listening to her own recommendation, receiving the RSV vaccine on Tuesday.

"I was really excited last year when this vaccine came out because I think it's been a long time coming, and we've needed something that can help prevent RSV," Swaay said.

To help keep the community informed over respiratory viruses, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) monitors data including COVID-19, flu and RSV. Previously, CDPHE had two dashboards showing this information, but now will have one combined dashboard so people can better comprehend and compare the data.

"There's different vaccines for each of them. They affect different age groups differently, so we want the public to have visibility on all three of them, and to know what's circulating in their community," Dr. Herlihy said.

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