Scientists have been working on a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus for more than 60 years, and now, one has finally been approved by the FDA. Why the six-decade wait? As CNN explains, the results of an experimental vaccine study in the 1960s turned tragically wrong in what was "a seismic shock to vaccine science," causing RSV vaccine efforts to come to a grinding halt. The experimental drug given back then at first appeared to be a success when children who received it responded well. But when RSV season started that fall, 80% of the children who'd received the vaccine and later contracted RSV had to be hospitalized, compared to 5% of those who'd received a placebo. The vaccine somehow made the virus stronger rather than weaker, and two of the children who'd received it ultimately died after contracting RSV.
Scientists took a break from developing RSV vaccines to instead look at what went wrong, and more guardrails around vaccine clinical trials were put up. Now, Arexvy, from drugmaker GSK, has become the first RSV vaccine to be licensed anywhere, the AP reports. Several others are also in the works, and once the CDC decides which seniors should be eligible for the shot, it could be given starting this fall. While RSV typically produces cold-like symptoms, it can be dangerous for babies as well as older adults, especially those with underlying health problems. In the US, as many as 177,000 older adults require hospitalization each year for RSV and as many as 14,000 die; among children, about 58,000 children under 5 are hospitalized with the virus per year and several hundred die. The vaccine was found to be 94% effective against severe disease in seniors. (More respiratory syncytial virus stories.)
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