The first vaccine to prevent the respiratory disease caused by RSV was approved this week by U.S. regulators for use in adults 60 and older.
The shot, developed by pharmaceutical giant GSK, will be rolled out ahead of the fall and winter RSV season, when transmission peaks. Most people are infected by respiratory syncytial virus repeatedly over a lifetime and experience only a mild cold, but babies and vulnerable older adults can become severely ill.
Depending on the season, 60,000 to 120,000 older adults are hospitalized in the United Stateswith RSV each year, and 6,000 to 10,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In an earnings presentation released last week, GSK said it has “millions of [vaccine] doses ready to be shipped.”
Here’s what you need to know about the newly approved vaccine, from how it works to what happens next.