Pharmaceutical company GSK's RSV vaccine has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to become the world's first such vaccine. Known as Arexvy, this vaccine has been approved after three clinical trials.
As per a report in Nature, the vaccine has been approved for use in people above 60 years.
RSV or the respiratory syncytial virus causes common cold-like symptoms upon infecting a human being. Though it is considered to be a mild infection, it is deadly in older people.
In the US, where the first vaccine has been approved, RSV kills 6,000 to 10,000 adults above 65 years. "People in this age group with comorbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and congestive heart failure are especially at risk," the Nature report says.
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The clinical trial data, which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that shot reduced the risk of people 60 and older developing lower respiratory tract disease from RSV by 82.6% and the risk of developing severe disease by 94.1%.
“Our focus now is to ensure eligible older adults in the US can access the vaccine as quickly as possible and to progress regulatory review in other countries,” Tony Wood, the chief scientific officer at GSK, said in a statement.
The vaccine contains a recombinant subunit prefusion RSV F glycoprotein antigen (RSVPreF3) combined with GSK’s proprietary AS01E adjuvant.
