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Sophia’s story: Helping to protect babies from serious illness by taking part in the Harmonie research study
Meet Helen and her daughter Sophia – they’ve been taking part in a research study called the Harmonie study, that looks into how strongly babies can be protected from serious illness due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection by giving them a single antibody dose.
RSV is a common seasonal virus that infects nearly all babies by their second birthday. Most of the time it causes a mild illness, like a cold. However, for some babies, it leads to more severe lung problems such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
Recently results were released from the study which showcase that babies who had received the RSV treatment were 83% less likely to end up in hospital with chest problems associated with RSV.
Over the past year we have been following the journeys of 54 babies who have either received an antibody dose or not.
We had a chat with Helen, mum of Sophia to find out more about their time on the study.
Helen said: “A friend of mine had a baby around the same time I had Sophia, and it came up that her baby was on the Harmonie study at Sheffield Children’s. The reason I was interested in the study was because in October when Sophia was eight months old, she became incredibly ill, she contracted enterovirus which later became viral meningitis, it got to the point where we weren’t sure if she was going to pull through.
“This illness began from a respiratory infection that got out of hand, so I was really keen to be a part of a study that could help with reducing the impact of getting the RSV virus. The research said it might be able to help limit hospital admissions so that was one of my main motivations. As well as having seen the impact of RSV on a friend of a friend’s baby who sadly died just before Sophia joined the trial so that was even more motivation that I needed to be a part of this study.
“I wanted to give something back to the hospital because they were incredible with my daughter, I’ll never be able to thank the hospital enough, but this was something tangible that both Sophia and I could do.”
“It was a really simple process to be involved, I just filled out an application online, we had a phone call with the team, and we popped into Sheffield Children’s to chat further and find out if Sophia was going to receive the antibodies or not. The team were really lovely and supportive, really reassuring.
“Sophia received her dose through an injection and before we knew it, we were back off home and just had to complete a few questions each day for 12 months to help gather data on the impact of the RSV injection.
“Prior to the study, Sophia was pretty much ill all the time with something. Since Christmas she’s had one infection that needed medical assistance but otherwise, she’s been generally well. Things don’t seem to escalate to the point where she’s really poorly like they used to.
“I am so grateful that Sophia and I could be a part of this study, I want to protect her against everything possible and to hopefully help others in the process too.”
Kelechi Ugonna, Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine added: “It’s great that there is another effective treatment to reduce the risks associated with this virus in babies.
“Following this study, it is likely that this treatment will become more widely available for infants and therefore reduce the number of those who get unwell with RSV and have to come into hospital.
“It’s really great that Sheffield Children’s has been able to contribute to this international research study that will have such a positive impact on the health of infants and children.”
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