An eight-year-old boy was in the intensive care unit of a Berlin children’s hospital last December with a respiratory infection.
Image: Christoph Soeder/dpa
Many Germans experienced the virus last winter, which can lead to dangerous respiratory diseases – especially in children and the elderly. The US is the first country to approve a British vaccine against RSV.
Dhe USA has approved the world‘s first vaccine against the so-called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). British pharmaceutical giant GSK’s vaccine Arexvy to protect against respiratory diseases has been approved for adults over 60 years of age, the US Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday. The authority spoke of an important achievement “to prevent a disease that can be life-threatening”.
RSV is a global pathogen that can cause severe respiratory disease. An infection can be particularly dangerous for the elderly and people with a weakened immune system, but also for newborns and infants.
Many falls in winter
Last winter in Germany, more newborns and infants than usual had to be treated in clinics for acute respiratory diseases. Experts suspect a catch-up effect after the corona pandemic, where comparatively few children came into contact with RSV. So far, the disease can only be treated symptomatically.
GSK’s vaccine is expected to be approved in the European Union soon. The pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna are also hoping for approval for the vaccines they have developed against RSV.