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The Immune Response to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection: Friend or Foe?

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Abstract

The immune response to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection has fascinated and frustrated investigators for decades. After adverse responses to early attempts at vaccination, it became popularly held that disease following infection was related to overly aggressive immune responses. However, recent data illustrate that severe forms of disease are related to inadequate, rather than hyperresponsive, adaptive immune reactions. Thus, recovery from primary (and perhaps later) RSV infection is dependent on the quality of innate immune responses. These findings should have enormous significance to the development of vaccines and antiviral compounds.

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  1. Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Robert C. Welliver Sr.

  2. Division of Infectious Diseases, Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, 219 Bryant Street, 14222, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Robert C. Welliver Sr.

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Welliver, R.C. The Immune Response to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection: Friend or Foe?. Clinic Rev Allerg Immunol 34, 163–173 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12016-007-8033-2

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