Harish Nair, University of Edinburgh (UK), RESCEU Project Coordinator, and Louis J. Bont, University Medical Center Utrecht (NL), RESCEU Work Package Leader, have recently taken part in an Experts Panel Discussion on RSV, hosted by the platform Peervoice and endorsed by ReSViNET.
Together with Asuncion Mejias, from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio (USA), they discussed two topics extensively debated in severe RSV prevention: whether more consideration should be given to RSV prevention for premature babies born after the 29th week of gestation; and what the prospect of RSV vaccination is.
The Panel Discussion, currently available on the web provides an introduction to severe RSV morbidity and mortality, and discusses known and preventable risk-factors for RSV, as well as the economic burden this very common childhood infection entails.
The experts discussed the ongoing clinical studies related to RSV, including severity of disease in premature babies and the challenges in developing vaccines, especially for infants, such as the lack of a perfect animal model and babies’ immature immune system. The experience of the Formalin inactivated RSV vaccine trial in the 1960s was highlighted in this context, also in the light of the positive prospects shared across the scientific community on maternal immunization and a maternal vaccine for RSV.
More on RSV at: RESCEU and ReSViNET
Article by
Gabriella Russo