What's Next in RSV Prevention? Here's What's on the Horizon

"Scientists have made monumental strides in their quest to protect vulnerable babies from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV): in just the past few years, monoclonal antibody injections for infants and a maternal vaccine that delivers protection through the placenta have substantially reduced infant hospitalizations and deaths. But researchers still are grasping at a broader goal: to make a vaccine available for toddlers and preschoolers, who are also vulnerable to severe RSV disease."

"The most promising candidate is a two-dose vaccine administered as a nasal spray. Should it prove safe and effective in clinical trials, which are currently underway, it could help prevent severe RSV disease in children over the first several years of their livesnot just the first months. Where we're heading next is the possibility of having true vaccines, not monoclonal antibodies, for kids after their first birthday, says James Campbell, an infectious disease pediatrician at the University of Maryland."

"Before the arrival in 2023 of Pfizer's maternal vaccine and a preventive monoclonal antibody drug called nirsevimab, developed by Sanofi and AstraZeneca, RSV brought an annual scourge upon children's hospitals. Historically, it has been the number one cause of infant hospitalization; about 2 to 3 percent of infants in their first year of life are hospitalized with RSV each year in the U.S."

Monoclonal antibody injections for infants and a maternal vaccine that transfers protection through the placenta have substantially reduced RSV hospitalizations and deaths. A broader goal remains to make vaccines for toddlers and preschoolers to prevent severe RSV beyond infancy. The leading candidate is a two-dose nasal-spray vaccine currently in clinical trials. If proven safe and effective, the nasal vaccine could prevent severe RSV disease across the first several years of life, not only during the first months. Prior to 2023, RSV was the leading cause of infant hospitalization, with about 2–3% of infants hospitalized annually in the U.S.

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