RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS - SCI & TECH
News: FDA approves first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus
What's in the news?
● The
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approved the first vaccine - AREXVY
- for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) to lower respiratory tract disease in
people older than 60 years. This is the first RSV vaccine to be approved
anywhere in the world.
Key takeaways:
● The
FDA has approved AREXVY, the first RSV
vaccine to be approved anywhere in the world, manufactured by GSK.
● The
approval was based on a phase-3 trial carried out on nearly 25,000
participants.
● It
showed a single dose of the vaccine reduced the risk of developing lower
respiratory tract disease caused by the RSV virus by 82.6% and severe disease
by 94.1% in people older than 60 years.
● The
vaccine will be available for older
adults in the U.S. before the 2023-2024 RSV season.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus:
● Respiratory
Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a common
respiratory virus that can cause illness in people of all ages.
○ It
is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA
virus. Its name is derived from the large cells known as syncytia that form
when infected cells fuse.
Affects:
● It
is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children, and it can
also affect older adults and people with weakened immune systems.
Transmission:
● RSV
is highly contagious and spreads
through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or by touching a
surface contaminated with the virus and then touching one’s face.
Symptoms:
● Symptoms
of RSV can range from mild to severe, including runny nose, coughing, sneezing,
fever, wheezing, and difficulty breathing.
● In
severe cases, it can lead to pneumonia, bronchiolitis, or death.