Why It Took So Long to Finally Get an RSV Vaccine

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can dangerously compromise breathing, especially for infants and the elderly. But there has been no vaccine to prevent it—until today. On May 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first vaccine against RSV, from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), to prevent respiratory disease in people ages 60 and older. The Centers for Disease Control’s vaccine committee will make formal recommendations in June about who should receive the vaccine, but GSK says it currently has enough doses to vaccinate eligible people beginning this fall. In studies involving 25,000 people that GSK submitted to the FDA, the company’s vaccine, called Arexvy, reduced the risk of respiratory disease by 82.6% among those who received a single shot, compared to those receiving placebo. The FDA asked the company to continue studying how long the protection against RSV disease might last to determine if people would need annual vaccinations. The company will also monitor for potential side effects of the shot; two people who received Arexvy and the flu shot on the same day developed a rare inflammatory condition, and one died, while another who received just an Arexvy vaccination developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare immune system condition that can cause muscle weakness and even paralysis. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] It won’t be the only shot targeting the virus for long. Pfizer has also submitted its RSV vaccine in older ad...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Drugs healthscienceclimate Source Type: news