NIAID's Role in Addressing RSV
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory infections in young children and the elderly. In the United States, nearly all children become infected with RSV by age 2, with 75,000 to 125,000 of them hospitalized each year. Globally, RSV affects an estimated 64 million people and causes 160,000 deaths each year.
For more than 50 years, NIAID’s commitment to RSV research has been unparalleled. NIAID researchers were the first to identify and characterize RSV and have provided fundamental knowledge that improves our understanding, treatment, and prevention of RSV disease.
NIAID basic research has led to the only preventive treatment currently available for RSV and given us new techniques to manipulate the virus that have brought us closer to a safe and effective vaccine. Read more about NIAID’s Role in RSV Research. |