{"id":3506,"date":"2026-10-13T15:26:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/?p=3506"},"modified":"2026-10-13T15:26:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:26:45","slug":"parents-urge-pregnant-women-to-join-new-vaccine-study-to-protect-babies-from-serious-infections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/parents-urge-pregnant-women-to-join-new-vaccine-study-to-protect-babies-from-serious-infections\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents Urge Pregnant Women to Join New Vaccine Study to Protect Babies from Serious Infections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mothers whose babies became very ill with sepsis or meningitis caused by a bacteria<\/a> called group B streptococcus (GBS) are asking pregnant women to take part in an important new vaccine study. The study, called the BEATRIX study, is the first large-scale trial for a GBS vaccine in its final testing phase (phase 3). It is supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and funded by Pfizer, with researchers from the NHS, UK universities, and international partners working together to prevent infant deaths and stillbirths that could have been avoided.<\/p>\n

GBS is the most common cause of life-threatening infections in newborn babies, leading to conditions like sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis. In the UK and Ireland, about 1 in every 1,000 babies develops a GBS infection within the first three months of life. Each year, GBS sadly causes the deaths of 50 babies and leaves around 70 with long-term disabilities such as hearing loss, cerebral palsy, or learning difficulties.<\/p>\n

Professor Paul Heath, the lead researcher for the BEATRIX study, explained: ‘Group B Streptococcus can make newborn babies very ill, but unfortunately, there is currently no licensed vaccine available to help prevent these infections.’ He added, ‘This study is testing a new vaccine given to mothers during pregnancy<\/a> to see if it protects their babies. The goal is to learn more about how well this vaccine works and how safe it is when given to pregnant women.’<\/p>\n

Professor Lucy Chappell, who leads the NIHR, shared a personal story to highlight why this research is so important. She said, ‘Stories like Leo\u2019s remind us how crucial research is. Behind every study are families who want to find better ways to stop serious illnesses and improve health outcomes for others.’ She emphasized, ‘Every woman who joins this study helps us gather the evidence needed to protect both mothers and babies in the future.’<\/p>\n

James Frith, the Health Innovation Minister, also spoke about the importance of the study. He said, ‘No parent should have to go through the fear that Laura and Matt experienced.’ He added, ‘By working together across the healthcare and science sectors, we can speed up discoveries and provide lasting benefits for patients and the public for many years to come.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mothers whose babies became very ill with sepsis or meningitis caused by a bacteria called group B streptococcus (GBS) are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pharmaceutical-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3512,"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3506\/revisions\/3512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allesleypharmacy.co.uk\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}