Vaccine for major common cold virus could be in use by 2024

摘要

A VACCINE that protects against one of the main common cold viruses has been shown to be safe and effective in a clinical trial and could be available by 2024. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is so contagious that more than 90 per cent of people have experienced their first infection by the age of 2. It usually causes cold symptoms but can lead to severe illness in young children and older people. Globally, around 60,000 children under the age of 5 and 14,000 people over the age of 65 die each year after contracting the virus. Developing vaccines against RSV and other respiratory viruses has been challenging because the respiratory tract, which includes the nostrils and throat, is a surface exposed to the external rather than internal environment, says Kirsten Spann at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, who wasn't involved in the clinical trial.