Several important treatments have emerged to help prevent infection from Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in those that are most susceptible to it; namely young children and adults. Specifically, the FDA recently approved Arexvy, the world’s first vaccine to fight RSV in adults aged 60 and older. According to its manufacturer GSK, the single shot provides long-term protection against a common respiratory infection that can be lethal in some patients.
The FDA also approved a monoclonal antibody treatment for infants and children up to 24 months of age who remain vulnerable to RSV. The drug, known as Beyfortus, is an antibody that fights against RSV that is administered as a single injection.
Finally, a vaccine produced by Pfizer to protect babies against RSV from birth could be approved in just weeks by the FDA by immunizing pregnant patients. According to Pfizer, this vaccine would protect newborns and infants up to six months of age against severe disease from RSV.
These groundbreaking therapies will be a gamechanger from a public health perspective in the fight to protect those most vulnerable to RSV infection. Here’s why.
RSV is a common upper respiratory infection that infects nearly everyone by the age of two. Most cases are mild and result in fever, cough, runny nose, and possibly wheezing. However, it can cause severe disease resulting in pneumonia or inflammation of the airways, a condition known as bronchiolitis.
Annually, RSV results in 60,000 to 120,000 hospitalizations in America for adults aged 65 and older, and 6,000 to 10,000 deaths. For children under the age of five, the virus accounts for about 58,000 hospitalizations a year in the US and up to 500 deaths. The new vaccine for adults and antibody for children will invariably curb these numbers, ultimately saving the lives of thousands of Americans.
Furthermore, these therapies will keep more people out of the hospital and decrease the number of patients experiencing severe disease. Patients hospitalized for RSV require supportive therapy which can include IV fluids, oxygen, and mechanical ventilation to help breathe. Seeing loved ones on a ventilator can be traumatizing emotionally, and these promising treatments will certainly decrease the number of infants and elderly that will need to be placed on a ventilator.
Additionally, RSV is extremely contagious, nearly twice as contagious as Influenza according to research in Journal of Theoretical Biology. This means that the virus is easier to spread amongst people than the common flu. This is also why the CDC has recommended covering sneezes and coughs with a tissue paper rather than one’s hands as a means to limit the spread of RSV. With newer therapies aimed at curbing RSV infection, the sheer number of infections will likely decrease, thus limiting the spread of this contagious virus.
Finally, the success of these new treatments could help restore public trust in science and novel treatments like vaccines. As seen with the Covid vaccines, suboptimal vaccine uptake rates were associated with medical mistrust, according to research in the journal SSM- Population Health. Vaccine hesitancy has become an increasing problem in the United States with the resurgence of some diseases like Measles that were previously thought to be eradicated because less patients and parents are choosing to vaccinate their children. If RSV infections, deaths and hospitalizations can be mitigated by the new RSV therapies, then perhaps some Americans will begin to develop trust in science and the potential for vaccine efficacy.
The novel RSV therapies could be a major triumph for science and public health. Only time will tell if this is a reality.
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