New vaccine policy for fatal virus

Researchers from the University of Warwick have suggested a new vaccination policy to target the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The results of a recent investigation suggest that vaccinating older children could reduce the chance of their younger siblings falling ill.

Professor James Nokes of the School of Life Sciences is author of the pioneering study which was carried out in rural Kenya. It found that over half of babies who contracted RSV caught the illness from a family member. Of these, almost three quarters became infected through an older sibling.

Professor Nokes said: “We found that quite a high proportion of the cases were introduced through elder sibling or cousins, in particular school-going children.”

His findings provide evidence for the thesis developed in the 1970s which suggested that schoolchildren often carry infection from one household to another.

Prof. Nokes commented:  “The virus is ubiquitous but this work hasn’t been done in a developing country situation before. We now know that the same pattern we see in the industrialised world also occurs in low income countries.”

The findings will impact illness control measures all over the world. Although very young babies cannot be vaccinated, it is possible to ‘cocoon’ them by vaccinating family members.

“It’s possible that you could vaccinate other members of the household, particularly the older siblings of the infant, even through a school vaccination programme,” said Professor Nokes.

“If you are coming into the next RSV epidemic and we know a family has a small baby, you could give a vaccine to the older siblings.”

RSV can be fatal for infants although it is rarely a threat for adults. It is common all over the world, and has flu-like symptoms. Outbreaks of the virus in the UK tend to occur during the winter months, and account for 0.28% of hospital admissions for children of 12 months or fewer. Globally, RSV affects 30 million people and causes roughly 200 000 deaths in children under 5. 99 percent of these deaths are in poorer countries.