The bronchiolitis vaccine has shown great effectiveness in preventing babies from going through hospital emergency rooms. This happened last year, the first year this vaccine was administered, and when hospitalizations due to this infection were reduced by 90 percent. For this reason, the regional government will vaccinate the little ones again this year, and this Sunday it opens appointments for these vaccinations.
According to figures from the Ministry of Health, 50,000 babies up to six months old will receive this vaccine next October. It will be given in nine public hospitals in the Community of Madrid, depending on your date of birth.
Starting this Sunday, parents will be able to request an appointment online to vaccinate their baby against this respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), responsible for bronchiolitis, among other things. The vaccination campaign will begin on October 1. Children born from April 1, 2024, that is, those under six months of age, will be vaccinated throughout this month in nine public health centers in the region, always by appointment. These hospitals are October 12; Infante Jesus; Gregorio Marañón and La Paz, in the capital; and those of Puerta de Hierro-Majadahonda; In the southeast, in Arganda del Rey; Mostoles; Infante Cristina de Parla and Hospital del Henares, in Coslada.
For their part, those born between October 1 of this year and March 31, 2025, the RSV transmission season, will benefit from this protection in the maternity hospitals in which they were born, both public and private, before being discharged from hospital.
The Ministry of Health is very interested in this vaccine reaching as many children as possible, given its benefits and its direct impact on hospitalizations. For this reason, at the beginning of September, it will send SMS messages to the cell phones of the families of minors for whom vaccination is recommended. In addition, it will also launch a campaign of educational materials in Spanish, French, English, Arabic and Chinese, which will be distributed in public hospitals and health centers.
In the last campaign, in Madrid – one of the first regions to incorporate this preventive measure – 44,116 doses were administered, achieving a coverage of 87 percent of the target population. The treated cases of bronchiolitis and other infections caused by RSV in children under 6 months, both in primary care and in hospital, were significantly reduced.
