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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of death in neonates and elders. Globally, more than 3 million young children are hospitalized annually because of RSV-induced illness. No vaccine is available, and one vaccine trial decades ago was worse than a failure — it led to excess morbidity and mortality.
An international team isolated potent neutralizing antibodies against RSV, and then identified a protein on the virus's surface that was the target of the antibodies. The team attempted to use a particular part of that protein as an immunogen, but they found that the structure was unstable. Based on the ultrastructure of the protein, they manipulated the protein biochemically to create a stable synthetic immunogen. Mice and mon…