The United States of America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for use in women during pregnancy to protect the baby. This vaccine has been developed by Pfizer and the approval allows the vaccine to be given to women 32 to 36 weeks into pregnancy for prevention of lower respiratory tract infection and severe disease in infants until they are six months old. The vaccine developer has said that maternal vaccination could prevent a large number of hospitalizations due to RSV. The syncytial virus is said to be a common cause of illness in children, while infants are those at the highest risk for severe disease.