Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most important cause of viral acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in infants and children worldwide and is responsible for over 30 million new ALRI episodes worldwide and up to 199,000 deaths in children under five years old. In the United States, the virus infects nearly all children at least once by the age of two and is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and infant pneumonia, causing up to 125,000 hospitalizations of children each year. RSV disease burden is less understood in the developing world, but available data indicates that the virus causes a significant proportion of childhood ALRI in these parts of the world, particularly in the first months of life. The drug palivizumab can help prevent RSV disease in high risk infants, but it cannot treat or cure already-serious RSV infection. No vaccine exists today to prevent RSV due to an incomplete understanding of the body’s immune response to the virus, which has challenged and delayed RSV vaccine development efforts. Several vaccine technologies to combat RSV are currently in the early stages of development.
More about RSV | View resources on RSV
Key resources
Prevention of Serious Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Related Illness. I: Disease Pathogenesis and Early Attempts at Prevention (2011)
An article that provides an overview of the pathogenesis of RSV, the historical challenges facing RSV vaccine development, and current technologies being explored to prevent RSV disease.
Prevention of Serious Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Related Illness. II: Immunoprophylaxis (2011)
An article that reviews the development and use of palivizumab, the only drug approved for the prevention of RSV lower respiratory tract disease.
Acute Respiratory Infections (Update September 2009): Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Parainfluenza Viruses (2009)
A web page that offers an overview of RSV and parainfluenza viruses, detailing disease burden, virology, and vaccines from a global perspective.
Page last updated: May 2012.
