Most children become infected with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection, or RSV, by the time they are 2 years old according to the CDC. The infection commonly takes place as a “mild, cold-like illness,” with rarer cases leading to more severe illnesses such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) found that RSV “causes severe disease in the lower airways and lungs of some 3 million newborn children and kills more than 100,000 worldwide each year.”
For decades, doctors have been trying to find a cure for the disease, but the first attempt at a vaccine in 1967 failed. A study by the American Society for Microbiology explained that, doctors administered infants a “formalin-inactivated vaccine” for RSV, which, rather than treating the disease, caused the patients to experience “an enhanced form of RSV disease characterized by high fever, bronchopneumonia, and wheezing when the became infected with wild-type virus in the community…two immunized toddlers died upon infection with wild-type RSV.”
About three weeks ago, The New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a study they conducted to test RSV vaccines, and came up with two possible courses of action: administering “a monoclonal antibody against RSV” as a preventative treatment and giving RSV vaccines to mothers.
The AAAS first refers to palivizumab, the monoclonal antibody formerly administered only to infants with underlying conditions putting them at higher risk of developing severe RSV. Although proven highly effective, it had a very small half life, forcing infants to “receive five monthly shots—which, all told, cost several thousands of dollars—to ward off the disease.” But the study found a new antibody—nirsevimab, which the study found to have three times the half life of palivizumab. AstraZeneca, the company who developed nirsevimab and, formerly, palvizumab, conducted a study “at 164 sites in 23 countries” with about 1500 preterm infants. The secondary endpoint’s results revealed that “nirsevimab achieved a 78.4% relative reduction in the incidence of hospitalizations due to RSV LRTI compared to placebo through 150 days post-dose,” according to GlobeNewswire.
The second treatment proposed is RSV vaccines, but rather than administering them to infants, the study administered them to pregnant women. The biotechnology company Novavax created an approach to “vaccinate the pregnant mother—in this case with RSV’s surface protein in a nanoparticle formulation—and hope her antibodies pass to the baby,” according to the AAAS. Professor Shabir A. Madhi of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg the lead author of the study, concluded that “infants born to women who received the RSV vaccine were 44% less likely to be hospitalized for RSV LRTI. Furthermore, these infants were 32% less likely to be hospitalized for pneumonia due to any cause in the first six months of life.”
The study is meant to be completed by 2023. If proven successful, this RSV treatment and vaccine can prevent millions of infants from the disease that scientists have been desperate to cure.
References
Acosta, Patricio L., et al. “Brief History and Characterization of Enhanced Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease.” Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, American Society for Microbiology, 1 Mar. 2016, cvi.asm.org/content/23/3/189.
Jon CohenJul. 29, 2020, et al. “Two New Medicines May Curb Serious Respiratory Disease in Infants.” Science, 30 July 2020, www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/two-new-medicines-may-curb-serious-respiratory-disease-infants.
“RSV in Infants and Young Children.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 June 2018, www.cdc.gov/rsv/high-risk/infants-young-children.html.
Sanofi. “Nirsevimab Reduced Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections Requiring Medical Care in Healthy Premature Infants in Phase 2b Trial.” GlobeNewswire News Room, "GlobeNewswire", 30 July 2020, www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/07/30/2070026/0/en/Nirsevimab-reduced-respiratory-syncytial-virus-infections-requiring-medical-care-in-healthy-premature-infants-in-Phase-2b-trial.html.
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. “Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccination of Pregnant Women Could Prevent Pneumonia in Babies.” University of the Witwatersrand, www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2020/2020-07/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv-vaccination-of-pregnant-women-could-prevent-pneumonia-in-babies.html.
Written by Keya Mann
Edited by Lucy Ge
Graphics by Karis Kelly
Group Advised by Sadia Akbar
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