San Diego

New RSV Vaccine Trial Now Enrolling Infants and Toddlers

As of now, there is no approved vaccine to prevent RSV. The FDA could approve one as early as this fall

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A new RSV vaccine trial is enrolling babies and toddlers in a neighborhood near you.

Most children get the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV for short, by the time they turn 2. Landon Bono got it at 4 months old.

“It just progressed a little bit of a runny nose and a cough," said Erica Bono.

The next thing the mom knew, her son was in the hospital for three days.

"I ended up sleeping with him on my chest most nights to keep him upright and able to breathe," she said.

According to the CDC, RSV results in around 58,000 annual hospitalizations and 100 to 300 deaths among children under 5 each year in the U.S.

RSV is a contagious virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract.

Pediatrician Shaun Berger said it’s also the number one reason infants are hospitalized in the country.

“Because babies and toddlers have such smaller bronchioles, it interferes with them and can make breathing a whole lot harder," Berger explained.

The Paradigm Clinical Researcher oversees a trial enrolling now for an RSV vaccine. It’s given in a nasal spray to children six months to 3 years old. There's also blood work that is done to look for antibodies and to see if the vaccines are effective.

If Bono's now six-year-old son wasn’t too old to qualify, Erica Bono would enroll him ASAP.

“COVID's known about. Flu's known about. A lot of people don't realize RSV is just as deadly as those other diseases, especially in the younger population," Bono said.

As of now, there is no approved vaccine to prevent RSV. The FDA could approve one as early as this fall.

Enrolled children will be in the study for about a year and spots are filling up fast. To enroll click here.

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