Exciting scientific developments offer solutions to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The only barrier is cost
The number one cause of infants being hospitalised in the US and Europe is a virus you’ve probably never heard of: RSV. Most people experience it as a mild infection resembling a cold. But it can be very serious in babies and elderly people. The tell-tale symptoms are abnormally fast breathing, a caving-in of the chest between and under the ribs, and wheezing or crackles – worrying noises caused by the bronchial tubes being inflamed, or the small air sacs in the lungs filling with fluid. The virus makes it harder to breathe and feed, both of which are essential, but even more so for newborn babies.
The gap between public awareness of RSV and the toll it takes is massive. Worldwide, it’s estimated that each year 64 million people have RSV, causing about 160,000 deaths. And it’s the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children worldwide, killing an estimated 13,000 infants under six months old and an estimated 101,000 children before they reach the age of five. In the UK, about 33,500 children under five are hospitalised with RSV each year, and it causes 20 to 30 deaths. While we tend to hear less about it, the burden on the NHS caring for RSV in children is higher than that for flu.
Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh
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