{
  "abstract": "Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of infant hospitalisation due to lower respiratory tract infections. Until 2022, prevention was limited to the costly monoclonal antibody palivizumab. In August 2024, the UK introduced the RSVpreF (Abrysvo, Pfizer) maternal vaccine into its national immunisation schedule. The success of this programme depends not only on vaccine effectiveness, but also on maternal access, acceptance and uptake.Objective To explore maternal perspectives on the RSVpreF vaccine and identify barriers and facilitators to vaccine uptake, to inform antenatal education and public health strategies.Methods This qualitative analysis is based on free-text survey responses from 388 vaccine-eligible mothers of infants hospitalised with bronchiolitis, lower respiratory tract infection or acute wheeze, collected between September 2024 and March 2025 across 30 sites, as part of the BronchStop study.Results Four key themes were identified: (1) access-related barriers to vaccination, (2) insufficient RSV awareness and information to support informed decision-making, (3) vaccine safety concerns and hesitancy and (4) perception of the maternal RSV vaccine as beneficial and protective. These themes were consistent across sociodemographic groups.Conclusions Uptake of the maternal vaccine was influenced by barriers to access, informational gaps and perceived safety concerns. Improved vaccine delivery, enhanced awareness and personalised antenatal counselling are essential to increase vaccine uptake. There is an urgent need to address structural inaccessibility and provide tailored antenatal education to address informational gaps. Ongoing qualitative research is crucial to guide targeted public health interventions ahead of future RSV seasons.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Wellcome Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast School of Medicine Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Belfast, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Shaun O’Hagan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Child Life and Health, University of Edinburgh Division of Clinical and Surgical Sciences, Edinburgh, UK",
        "Department of Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Thomas C Williams"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK",
        "Emergency Department, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Robin Marlow"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK",
        "NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Simon B Drysdale"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh, UK",
        "The University of Edinburgh Centre for Inflammation Research, Edinburgh, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Steve Cunningham"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Wellcome Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast School of Medicine Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Belfast, UK",
        "Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, Belfast, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Helen Elizabeth Groves"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Child Life and Health, University of Edinburgh Division of Clinical and Surgical Sciences, Edinburgh, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Chengetai D Mpamhanga"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Emergency Department, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK",
        "Research in Emergency Care Avon Collaborative Hub (REACH), University of the West of England, Bristol, UK",
        "Emergency Department, Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Mark D Lyttle"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Paediatric Emergency Medicine Leicester Academic (PEMLA) Group, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Samantha Hunt"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Xinxue Liu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Wellcome Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast School of Medicine Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Belfast, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Thomas Waterfield"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Paediatric Emergency Medicine Leicester Academic (PEMLA) Group, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, UK",
        "Population Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Damian Roland"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Dalia Iskander"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Kerry Woolfall"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [],
      "name": "on behalf of the PERUKI & BronchStart Collaboration"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Maternal perspectives on the RSV vaccine (Abrysvo): a thematic analysis of survey findings from the first season of implementation in England and Scotland",
  "uid": "1f6b8ac2-397f-59a1-891c-80c9c83d0f7a"
}