experienced a minor RSV infection. Yet each year, between 75,000 and 125,000children are hospitalized with a serious RSV infection. What begins as a cough with sneezing and a low-grade fever can progress to audible wheezing, cyanosis(low oxygen in the blood) and apnea (interrupted breathing).Hospital treatment tends to be supportive and may include oxygen andmechanical ventilators for serious breathing difficulties. Bronchodilators such as Albuterol have sometimes been used, and the anti-viral drug Ribavirin has beentried in some studies, but its overall usefulness is unclear.This is the problem with viral diseases: there are few good, specific drugs foreffective treatment and fewer available vaccines for prevention.For RSV, the absence of effective drugs or a vaccine means it will continue tocause significant morbidity and mortality, and the possibility of chroniccomplications, among many pediatric patients. Children with underlying illnessesand immune deficiencies may be especially susceptible to serious RSV infectionand lingering complications. For them, a kind of "instant immunity" is availablein the form of pre-made antibodies to the virus.In 1996, the FDA licensed a monthly intravenous infusion of hyperimmune serafor preterm infants at possible risk of RSV. A newer immune preparation called''humanized IgG monoclonal antibody'' is available now and can be delivered as asimple intramuscular injection.Not surprisingly, RSV is a major cause of respiratory disease and death in thedeveloping world. India, for example, has mortality rates for acute respiratory infections caused by flu, RSV and parainfluenza viruses that are 10 to 50 timeshigher than in the West. In the U.S., poor rural and Native American populations bear much of the burden of serious RSV infections.Interestingly, part of the CDC's Arctic Investigations Program in Alaska isspecifically dedicated to RSV surveillance and prevention among the state'snative populations. The Alaska program has delivered anti-RSV monoclonal
2
Leave a Comment