This is the first collaboration of its kind in Oxford, and the support provided by the Clinical Research Network Thames Valley and South Midlands has contributed to Oxford being the highest recruiting centre in the United Kingdom for this multinational, multi-centre study.
Babies born to participating mothers will now be followed up by paediatric staff at the Oxford Vaccine Group over winter to see if maternal immunisation is able to protect against this common but potentially life threatening virus. Particular credit should go to all the nurses, doctors, midwives and support staff of the two research teams, and it is expected that this will be the first of many such collaborations.