Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Sep 2;13(9):2138-2149.
doi: 10.1080/21645515.2017.1337614. Epub 2017 Jun 12.

Product review on the monoclonal antibody palivizumab for prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infection

Bernhard Resch  1
Affiliations
Review

Product review on the monoclonal antibody palivizumab for prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infection

Bernhard Resch. Hum Vaccin Immunother. .

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) accounts for about 20% of all respiratory infections in children below the age of 5 y. It is associated with up to 63% of all acute respiratory infections and up to 81% of all viral lower respiratory tract infections causing hospitalization in infants and young children. RSV leads to seasonal epidemics between November and April in the northern hemisphere. Most severe infections (RSV accounts for 50 to 80% of all cause bronchiolitis) affect infants younger than 6 months of age and high-risk infants including those born preterm with or without bronchopulmonary dysplasia and those with hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease up to an age of 24 months. Palivizumab, a highly potent RSV-neutralizing monoclonal antibody (Mab), has been licensed in 1998 for prophylactic use to prevent RSV associated hospitalizations in high-risk infants. This Mab is given by monthly intramuscular injection at a dose of 15 mg/kg over the RSV season (up to 5 times). Palivizumab proved to be safe and well-tolerated in this population. Concerns have been raised regarding cost-effectiveness of palivizumab and thus, palivizumab prophylaxis is mainly limited to selected high-risk infants for the first RSV season. Long-lasting Mabs will be the next future approach in the prophylaxis of RSV hospitalization until a vaccine is developed.

Keywords: Respiratory syncytial virus; bronchiolitis; bronchopulmonary dysplasia; congenital heart disease; monoclonal antibody; motavizumab; palivizumab; preterm infant.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Actual proceedings in the RSV vaccine and monoclonal antibody development (Adapted from Ref. .)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Taylor G. Animal models of respiratory syncytial virus infection. Vaccine 2017; 35(3):469-80; PMID:27908639; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.11.054 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rodriguez WJ. Respiratory syncytial virus infections. Pediatr Infect Dis J 1999; 10(3):161-8
    1. Tawar RG, Duquerroy S, Vonrhein C, Varela PF, Damier-Piolle L, Castagné N, MacLellan K, Bedouelle H, Bricogne G, Bhella D, et al.. Crystal structure of a nucleocapsid-like nucleoprotein-RNA complex of respiratory syncytial virus. Science 2009; 326(5957):1279-83; PMID:19965480; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177634 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Simoes EA. Respiratory syncytial virus infection. Lancet 1999; 354(9181):847-52; PMID:10485741; https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(99)80040-3 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bont L, Kimpen JL. Immunological mechanisms of severe respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis. Intensive Care Med 2002; 28(5):616-21; PMID:12029411; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-002-1256-z - DOI - PubMed