Great news for the medical community! The Food and Drug Administration has approved a vaccine for the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) after 60 decades of development.
RSV is a common condition that produces cold or flu-like symptoms. Although a healthy adult can heal from RSV in a few weeks, it is considered deadly to infants and the elderly. When seniors contract it, the virus can cause bronchitis or pneumonia, which can be lethal for people with weakened immune systems.
Since the 1960s, pharmaceutical companies have been trying to develop a vaccine to combat it. And GSK, a global drug company, has succeeded in getting the first approval from the FDA.
The vaccine is called Arexvy, and it had astounding results in research. In the clinical trials tested on almost 25,000 elderly patients, the vaccine had a 94% success rate in combatting RSV.
Like most vaccines, Arexvy works by introducing a part of the virus protein into the body to help the immune system prepare and develop antibodies against it.
The vaccine was developed by the same people who helped create COVID-19 vaccines. And the best news is that it is projected to be ready for public use this year!
Another vaccine developed by Pfizer is also on the way and waiting for approval from the FDA.
Dr. Ruth Karron of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said, “RSV certainly is an important disease in the elderly. In some years, the burden of RSV disease comes close to the burden of flu in the elderly. And this is really a wonderful development.”
For now, the vaccine has only been tested for adults, but with this new development, there is no doubt that research is on the way to develop something like Arexvy to fight RSV in infants.