MILAN (ITALPRESS) – Since September 1, Lombardy has started the new campaign against the Syncidal Respiratory Virus (VRS), which every year causes many respiratory infections in small children. For the third consecutive year, the Region offers free protection for all newborns (born April 1, 2026) with a monoclonal antibody.
The main novelty is the anticipation of a month: in Lombard hospitals immunization started yesterday instead of from October 1, as it happened in recent years. Children born in the previous months will be contacted by their family pediatricians. Adhesion to the campaign was very high in 2024 and 2025: in the last season more than 90% of Lombardy infants received the antibody, with a sharp drop in access to the Emergency and shelters, including intensive therapies. Starting first will allow to protect newborns faster, reaching for time children more at risk.
“Even this year – said the Regional Councillor at Welfare, Guido Bertolaso – we started the immunization campaign of newborns against the sincitial respiratory virus. It is a choice of which we are proud and on which I want to be very clear: two years ago we were the first Region in Italy to decide to administer for free monoclonal antibodies to all newborns. And thanks to our initiative and the results achieved, the Ministry of Health has allocated funds to carry out a national campaign. We’re not talking about a vaccine, but immunization, two different things. We talk about a very serious pathology, known especially for bronchiolite, which until two years ago represented one of the main causes of hospitalization in the early years of children’s life. In Lombardy we recorded more than 3,500 admissions, with costs that amounted to 15 million euros, as well as the anxiety and suffering of families. We have intervened in a decisive and preventive way, despite the organizational, administrative and financial difficulties we have faced. And the results gave us reason: more than 90% of newborns received monoclonal antibodies, always on a voluntary basis and with the consent of parents, and the hospitals linked to this pathology have drastically reduced. This year we decided to leave early, from September 1, to anticipate the arrival of the cold season and the possible circulation of the virus. Children born from 1 April may be contacted by pediatricians and receive administration at pediatrician or public health facilities. For infants from 1 September, however, the administration can take place directly in the hospital or in the clinic, always with the consent of parents. We do not expect problems to come to intervene. We try to program them, prevent them and deal with them first. This is the principle that guides our work: more prevention and less care. It means protecting our children first of all, helping their families and at the same time using better the resources of our healthcare system. It is a concrete choice, effective and of which the Lombardy Region can be truly proud.”.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
