Vaccine Development Global Program  Respiratory syncytial virus
Vaccine development against a major cause of childhood
respiratory illness  Mother with newborn.  Photo courtesy of the
David and Lucile Packard Foundation.  Respiratory syncytial
virus (RSV) is a disease that causes infections of the lower
respiratory tract, mainly in infants and young children.
Globally, RSV is responsible for over 30 million new acute lower
respiratory infection episodes annually and up to 199,000 deaths
in children under five years old, with 99 percent of these
deaths occurring in low-resource countries. It’s so widespread
in the United States that nearly all children become infected
with the virus before their second birthdays.  Despite these
impacts, no vaccine yet exists for RSV, leaving children
vulnerable to infection and putting a heavy burden on caregivers
and health care systems, particularly in the developing world
where medical resources are limited and associated costs cause
great economic hardship. The developmen