Development of VPL Vaccine for RSV

Project Summary Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is recognized as the single most important viral cause of acute respiratory disease in infants and young children worldwide. Elderly populations and immunocompromised individuals are also at significant risk for serious RSV disease. Despite this very substantial disease burden imposed by RSV worldwide, there are no vaccines available. Several problems have impeded RSV vaccine development. First is safety. An early formalin-inactivated vaccine (FI-RSV)predisposed infants to more severe disease upon natural exposure to live virus resulting in concerns about the safety of all subsequently developed RSV vaccines, particularly nonreplicating vaccines. A second problem is a lack of understanding of requirements for stimulation protective responses making efficacy of new vaccine candidates difficult to predict. A third problem is the failure of RSV infections as well as many vaccine candidates to stimulate long-term, protective immune responses. This propos