Grant: Operating Grant

Respiratory infections are a significant cause of illness and death in children and in the elderly. Amongst all viruses involved in respiratory disease, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of brochiolitis and viral pneumonia in infants and young children, resulting in the hospitalization of up to 2% of children in their first year of life. In some children, particularly infants, RSV infections may lead to long-term consequences, such as asthma or increased susceptibility to subsequent respiratory infections. In older children, RSV is likely to be an important contributor to ear infections. RSV can also cause significant disease in the elderly and has been associated with higher mortality than influenza. Unfortunately there is no RSV vaccine. Vaccine development is challenging as newborn infants, who constitute the major target group, are not only prone to infections, they also develop weak immune responses to most conventional vaccines. Dendritic cells are the immune cells responsible for initiating the immune response to infection and vaccination. The overall objective of this project is to understand the role of dendritic cells in the responses to RSV infection and vaccination and to develop and characterize the RSV fusion protein as a safe and effective subunit vaccine. As subunit vaccines need additional components for full efficacy, we generated a novel vaccine formulation and delivery method, which very effectively stimulate the immune system, not only systemically but also in the respiratory tract. This system will be used for development of a RSV fusion protein-based vaccine that is effective and safe in infants and young children. Such a vaccine will result in lower morbidity and mortality, and reduced long-term problems such as asthma, in all age groups, but particularly in newborn infants.