HEALTH

The Ema approves the first bronchiolitis vaccine: revolution for infants and elderly

The European Medicines Agency (Ema) has recommended marketing authorisation for a vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus.

The new vaccine against bronchiolitis, a viral disease that mainly affects infants and people over the age of 60, may thus soon be available throughout the European Community.

This bronchiolitis is a very common infection, and one of the first causes of hospitalisations for young children and the elderly. For these categories, therefore, the introduction of this vaccine could represent a real revolution.

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A new drug against bronchiolitis
The European Medicines Agency (Ema) has recommended marketing authorisation for a vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus. The new vaccine against bronchiolitis, a viral disease that mainly affects infants and people over the age of 60, may thus soon be available throughout the European Community. Bronchiolitis is a very common infection and one of the leading causes of hospitalisations for young children and elderly.
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Here is Abrysvo
The name of the new product approved by the Ema is Abrysvo, and it is a vaccine that will protect infants up to 6 months old and the over 60s against diseases of the lower respiratory tract that are caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (Rsv). As 'SkyTg24' writes, in fact, 'Abrysvo, the first Rsv vaccine to get the green light from the agency, is bivalent and recombinant'.
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How the vaccine acts
This new vaccine will be injected into mothers in the third trimester of pregnancy, and will confer protection on the newborn for six months after birth. Specifically, Abrysvo will instruct the body to produce antibodies that will act particularly and specifically against the virus' F protein, the one that allows it to fuse with our cells to infect them.
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How the virus acts
The respiratory syncytial virus is quite common in Western Europe in the months from November to April. In most cases it causes mild symptoms, more or less those of a cold. However, if it attacks more fragile individuals, it causes inflammation of the bronchioles, i.e. the final parts of the respiratory tract. The first symptoms most often affect the elderly and people with lung or heart disease and diabetes. Children, however, have a higher mortality rate than the elderly, and are the first to be really seriously affected.
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Respiratory syncytial virus in the world
Statistically speaking, the respiratory syncytial virus afflicts more or less 33 million children worldwide every year, and is the cause of 3.2 million children, of whom an average of 111,800 die. At European level, it is one of the main causes of hospitalisation in paediatric, i.e. children. In the most severe cases it causes bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and can eventually lead to fatal respiratory crises.
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The words of Andrea Lo Vecchio
Andrea Lo Vecchio, president of the Italian Society of Paediatric Infectivology (Sitip), spoke to 'SkyTg24': 'According to estimates, Rsv brings 2 out of 10 children who are affected in the first year of life to hospital. Almost all hospitalised babies need oxygen and of those admitted, 5% end up in intensive care'. During the 1960s, this disease - which caused respiratory failure, pneumonia and many deaths in infants - was called the 'dark evil'.
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At present, there is no real therapy
Professor Lo Vecchio also gives percentages on this pathology in children: 'Among children under 2 years of age who get bronchiolitis, about 10% need oxygen and are hospitalised. Of these, 5% are intubated. Unfortunately, there is no specific therapy and this causes, usually between December and January, a lot of pressure in paediatric wards and neonatal intensive care units'.
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