St George’s to take part in study on common childhood respiratory illness

Published: 21 November 2022

St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of a number of sites which will be participating in an international study looking into treatment for the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). RSV affects 90% of children before the age of two and is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation in all infants worldwide. Although it often only causes mild illnesses such as a cold, for some babies it leads to more severe lung problems such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

The study will evaluate the effectiveness of an antibody in protecting against RSV. Running from August 2022 to March 2023, it will involve 28,000 infants across France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Participants will be randomly assigned into one of two groups; one will receive a dose of the antibody and the other group will receive nothing at all.

St George’s is of one of nine Hospital trusts in London to participate in the study which has been organised collaboratively between Sanofi, its partner AstraZeneca, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Dr Eva Galiza, a Senior Clinical Research Fellow at St George's, University of London and Principal Investigator for the HARMONIE study at St George's Hospital, said: "Infection from the respiratory syncytial virus can be unpredictable, and it is a leading cause of hospitalisation in babies. We need parents to help us with this research so we can protect babies in the future from respiratory infections."

To find out more about the study, please click here.