damages nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis — nine days after receiving Arexvy.
The FDA is requiring GSK to conduct a postmarketing study to assess the signals of serious risks for Guillain-Barré syndrome and ADEM. The company also has committed to assess atrial fibrillation in the postmarketing study.
The hunt for an RSV vaccine has been ongoing since the 1960s, when an early version crashed and burned in clinical trials.
That earlier vaccine caused a phenomenon called antibody-dependent enhancement, where the antibodies produced by a vaccine actually make a virus more virulent and harmful. Two children died in that clinical trial.
But in the early 2010s, U.S. National Institutes of Health researchers figured out that the F protein which RSV uses to bind with a human cell — much like COVID’s spike protein — actually changes shape after it forms that connection.
To create a protective immune response, an RSV vaccine would need to target the F protein’s pre-infection shape, the researchers reported. Targeting the post-infection shape would either produce no protection or make an infection even worse.
This breakthrough prompted a race among Pfizer, GSK and other pharmaceutical companies to craft a safe and effective RSV vaccine.
Protecting yourself against RSV
There are steps you can take to help prevent the spread of RSV. If you have cold-like symptoms you should:
- Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your upper shirt sleeve, not your hands
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- Avoid close contact, such as kissing, shaking hands, and sharing cups and eating utensils, with others
- Clean frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs and mobile devices
If you develop RSV, your infections will likely go away on their own in a week or two.
The CDC advises taking the following steps to relieve your symptoms:
- Manage fever and pain with over-the-counter fever reducers and pain relievers, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. (Never give aspirin to children.)
- Drink enough fluids. It is important for people with RSV infection to drink enough fluids to prevent dehydration (loss of body fluids).
- Talk to your healthcare provider before giving your child nonprescription cold medicines. Some medicines contain ingredients that are not good for children.