Posted On DEC. 13, 2023 3 AM PT, By Emily Alpert Reyes, L.A. Times
Pregnant people can get a shot to protect babies from RSV, but some hit hurdles
(…) The shots have been hailed as a game changer for RSV, an illness that crowds pediatric wards in fall and winter and causes tens of thousands of young children in the U.S. to be hospitalized annually. The virus can sicken otherwise healthy infants and cause pneumonia and inflammation of the small airways in the lungs.
Pharmacies may choose not to administer particular vaccines for a range of reasons, said Dr. Dima Qato, an associate professor at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy. Some might not have been immediately aware of the new recommendations to give the shot to pregnant patients, while others may not have been equipped to screen them for eligibility.
For a pharmacy, there’s the question of “how would you confirm a woman is 32 to 36 weeks pregnant,” Qato said. “It’s much easier for a vaccine that has no restrictions, like COVID or the flu, for a pharmacy to administer it.”
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