Antibody therapies set to transform RSV prevention for babies

Unless you have had cancer or experienced an inflammatory disorder, chances are you have never taken an antibody drug. But Oliver DeLong, a healthy baby from Chicago, Illinois, probably received his first antibody therapy before he was even four months old.

Oliver participated in a clinical trial in 2021 that involved a unique kind of antibody treatment, one designed to prevent, rather than treat, disease. It is called nirsevimab, and studies show that the drug, when given before the start of the first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season that a baby will experience, can help youngsters to avoid the types of severe lung infection that often lead to hospitalization and even death.

Antibody drugs are usually given to treat severe diseases. But when it comes to RSV, these drugs have been used for more than 25 years as a preventive measure.

Rather than waiting for babies to contract the virus and get ill, physicians administer antibodies beforehand to stop RSV from taking hold — a vaccine-like approach that provides short-term protection against the worst complications of RSV-associated disease.

Continue reading at Nature Outlook.