The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Arexvy (respiratory syncytial virus vaccine, adjuvanted) for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in individuals 60 years of age and older.
Key points
- This is the first RSV vaccine for older adults to be approved anywhere in the world.
- RSV is a common, contagious virus that can lead to potentially serious respiratory illness.
- RSV is a highly contagious virus that causes infections of the lungs and breathing passages in individuals of all age groups.
- Older adults are at high risk for severe disease due in part to age-related decline in immunity, and older adults with underlying conditions are at even greater risk for severe disease.
- RSV circulation is seasonal, typically starting during the fall and peaking in the winter.
- In older adults, RSV is a common cause of lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD), which affects the lungs and can cause life-threatening pneumonia and bronchiolitis (swelling of the small airway passages in the lungs).
