NDLI: Call to include breastfeeding as a synergistic approach to vaccines for prevention of respiratory syncytial virus disease

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Fischer, Laura Okanmelu, Elochukwu Theurich, Melissa Ann
Abstract	Background Infections with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infancy and early childhood are very common. RSV is the leading cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia and substantially contributes to the morbidity and mortality of infants and young children worldwide. Until very recently, there have been no vaccines available for prevention and there are no curative treatments for RSV. Two novel pharmaceutical approaches for RSV prevention became available in 2024 namely immunization of mothers during pregnancy and immunoprophylaxis of infants. Since then, a series of scientific papers as well as national and international guidance have been published to encourage parents to vaccinate themselves or their children. Despite strong evidence that breastfeeding is an important non-pharmacological approach for prevention of severe RSV outcomes, recent scientific papers and public health communications have neglected breastfeeding as a core RSV-preventive strategy. This commentary highlights epidemiological evidence of the protective effects of breastfeeding as a key non-pharmacological intervention, discussing its synergistic role in RSV prevention and supportive role in the care of sick infants. Breastfeeding and RSV Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the rate and severity of RSV-associated outcomes, including hospitalization and mortality. While exclusive breastfeeding is most protective, even one month of breastfeeding was associated with a reduced likelihood of Intensive Care Unit admission and the need of mechanical ventilation in RSV-infected infants. The benefits of breastfeeding for RSV prevention and supportive care have been demonstrated in epidemiological studies in low-, middle- and high-income settings and are especially important for small, premature and sick infants. Conclusion Breastfeeding is an overlooked sustainable strategy for the universal prevention of severe outcomes and serves as supportive care of RSV-associated disease in infancy, especially in vulnerable population groups. Breastfeeding should be encouraged alongside vaccines in all public health communication, by health providers during pre- and postnatal immunization visits and during infant check-ups. Further, the role of breastfeeding as supportive care of RSV-infected and critically-ill infants should not be overlooked.
Related Links	https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13006-025-00705-9.pdf
Ending Page	5
Page Count	5
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	17464358
DOI	10.1186/s13006-025-00705-9
Journal	International Breastfeeding Journal
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	20
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2025-03-03
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Maternal and Child Health Breastfeeding Immunization Vaccine Lower respiratory infections Respiratory syncytial virus RSV Prevention Supportive care Public health communication
Content Type	Text
Subject	Obstetrics and Gynecology Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Journal Impact Factor	2.9/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.6/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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