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Pregnancy vaccine reduces baby hospital admissions for RSV by 80%

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A vaccine during pregnancy which protects newborns against nasty chest infections is cutting hospital admissions of babies by more than 80%, UK health officials say.

A virus, called RSV, affects many babies in the first few months of life and can leave them gasping for breath and struggling to feed, with more than 20,000 babies ending up seriously ill in hospital in the UK every year.

Since 2024, women have been offered a vaccine from 28 weeks of pregnancy to protect their newborns.

A new study analysing the impact of the vaccine shows it gives "excellent protection" to babies when they are most vulnerable to RSV, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says.

RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is one of the main reasons young babies are admitted to hospital before the age of one.

Half of newborns catch the virus, which can cause anything from a mild cold to a life-threatening chest infection because of inflammation in the lungs. Small numbers die from it every year.

In babies with bad infections you can see their chest and lungs struggling, as they try to pull enough oxygen in, said Dr Conall Watson, national programme lead for RSV at the UK Healthy Security Agency.

"This is very, very frightening as a parent, frightening with good reason."

The new vaccine was introduced in the UK in 2024 after clinical trials showed it could boost a pregnant woman's immune system enough to pass on protection to the baby through the placenta.

This means babies born to vaccinated pregnant women are protected from the day they are born.

This new study shows the protection is nearly 85% when given at least four weeks before baby is born. Some protection is still possible if the jab is given later than this.

Even a two-week gap between vaccination and birth can be long enough to protect babies born a little early, the study shows.

"If you've got a longer interval between when the vaccine gets given and when baby is born, then you get even better protection," says Dr Watson.

"Get it on time. But if you can't, do get vaccinated all the way through the third trimester."

The study followed nearly 300,000 babies born between September 2024 and March 2025 in England – equivalent to about 90% of all births during that time.

More than 4,500 babies were admitted to hospital. The vast majority were infants whose mothers had not been vaccinated against RSV.

The vaccine didn't come in time for Laine Lewis's son Malachi, now 12 years old. He developed a cold as a baby which deteriorated so much that he was taken to hospital, diagnosed with RSV and put on oxygen. Malachi later stopped breathing and a scan soon after revealed brain damage.

His mum has said it's important his story "doesn't scare people" because what happened to Malachi was very rare.

But she added: "I'd encourage people to take the vaccine for RSV because it will help their child."

Dr Watson said the vaccine could "make a big difference to keeping babies safe" through the winter.

"I would strongly encourage any pregnant woman to discuss it with their midwife, other health professionals, and be ready to have the vaccine at their week 28 appointment, or another vaccine appointment arranged soon after that."

Latest figures show around 64% of pregnant women in England are getting the RSV vaccine, but that falls to 53% in London.

The flu and whooping cough vaccines are also recommended during pregnancy.

Adults aged 75 or over, or who live in a care home for older adults, are also offered the RSV vaccine across the UK.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g84nxwz8wo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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The Papers: Original 'Labour leadership rivals circle' and 'Golden boys' on Baftas red carpet

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📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz623e3d06do?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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Chris Mason: Another crunch moment for Starmer as he pleads with Labour MPs not to topple him

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It feels like the prime minister has to give the speech of his life today.

Those within the Labour Party who want to see him succeed acknowledge that you can't change everything in one speech.

But it is clearly imperative for Sir Keir Starmer to try to calm down a party that is hurting and anxious.

Many Labour MPs have spent the weekend observing the politically scorched earth around them locally – their friends and colleagues in local and devolved government wiped out. There are fraught emotions and there is anger.

And for the last few days now there has been the drip, drip of revolt, with Labour MP after Labour MP coming out publicly to say Starmer has to go.

With every one, a little more of the prime minister's authority drains away.

Incidentally, don't underestimate what a big deal it is for any individual MP to go over the top and say their boss should go – not least because, for now at least, those that have done so are a tiny fraction of the total number of Labour MPs.

And it was his name up in lights as their leader when many of them won their seats for the first time, and often in parts of the country where Labour rarely if ever win. So to say now, out loud, that you think he is a dud is a big deal.

Wherever you look in the Labour Party right now there are knots of anxiety.

Firstly, there is anxiety in Downing Street, of course. They are acutely aware of what is at stake.

Secondly, there is anxiety among the potential challengers, weighing up if, when or whether to go for it. Timing can be everything: get it right, and the premiership can be yours. Get it wrong, and what might be your only chance to be prime minister is gone.

Thirdly, there is anxiety among the many, many Labour MPs keeping their heads down and who really don't want the prime minister to leave right now, nor for there to be a leadership contest.

Then there are those who would like Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to be Labour's next leader and so don't want a contest right now – because he needs time to firstly find and then win a Westminster seat, having been blocked from standing in one just a few months ago.

So what happens after the speech tomorrow? How do Labour MPs react? Does Catherine West, the former minister who has said she is willing to challenge the prime minister to try to force a contest, decide to back down, or press ahead?

Does the prime minister manage to put people off challenging him, at least for now?

Or is there a flood of anguish that leaves his position untenable and tempts one of the challengers to go for it?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, in particular, faces a massive call in the next couple of days. He has said he won't challenge Sir Keir, but is prepared to make his case if it becomes clear the prime minister is a goner.

So does he go for it, or not? Some who would like to see him replace Sir Keir think this might be his very best chance, before Burnham can get back to Westminster.

It is worth emphasising that it is not easy to dislodge a sitting prime minister who doesn't want to budge and, up until now at least, Sir Keir has given every indication he wants to stick around.

But what a moment he confronts and his party confronts.

The Labour Party is in a glum swirl right now, where no one can be certain what will happen next.

Whatever does – or doesn't – happen will have consequences for us all.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cevp4kr79e4o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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Ailing Iran Nobel laureate given bail and hospital transfer

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Iranian human rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi has been transferred from jail to a Tehran hospital amid concern over her deteriorating health.

Iranian authorities granted Mohammadi "a sentence suspension on heavy bail", a foundation run by her family said on Sunday.

Last week Mohammadi's family and supporters warned she could die in prison after suffering two suspected heart attacks earlier this year.

Mohammadi, 54, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against female oppression in Iran and promoting human rights.

After pleas from her family for her to be transferred from prison, Mohammadi is "now at Tehran Pars Hospital to be treated by her own medical team", ​the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said in a statement.

She had spent 10 days hospitalised in Zanjan in northern Iran, where she had been serving her sentence.

Mohammadi's Paris-based husband said "she is not in a favourable general condition" and that "her status remains unstable", in a statement over the weekend.

The activist is believed to have lost about 20kg (three stone) while in prison, and has difficulty speaking and is barely recognisable, according to her lawyer Chirinne Ardakani.

In 2021, Mohammadi began serving a 13-year sentence on charges of committing "propaganda activity against the state" and "collusion against state security", which she denied.

In December 2024, she was given a temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison on medical grounds.

Mohammadi was arrested last December for making "provocative remarks" at a memorial ceremony, Iranian authorities said at the time. Her family said she was taken to hospital after being beaten during the arrest.

In early February, Mohammadi was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court to an additional seven-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda activities", her lawyer said.

Last month, Mohammadi's brother Hamidreza said his sister had been found unconscious by fellow inmates at Zanjan prison after suffering a suspected heart attack.

The foundation's statement on Sunday said "a suspension is not enough" and that the human rights activist requires "permanent, specialised care".

"We must ensure she never returns to prison to face the 18 years remaining on her sentence," it read.

"Now is the time to demand her unconditional freedom and the dismissal of all charges. No human and women's rights activists should ever be imprisoned for their peaceful work," it said.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1j257w87neo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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