RSV is a common respiratory virus that can lead to serious negative clinical outcomes, such as lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) and pneumonia in older adults.
Dr Ahmad Izuanuddin Ismail, the deputy director, consultant and respiratory physician at Al Sultan Abdullah Universiti Teknologi Mara Hospital, said RSV could lead to moderate to severe outcomes, especially among seniors with underlying health conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic heart failure.
“Prevention is key for RSV infection as there is currently no treatment. However, we have a good vaccine at GSK, especially for older adults with comorbidities to prevent infection.
“The important point is that we need to protect our older generation, especially our parents and so on, to prevent further complications.
“Any complications, especially for those with comorbidities, may result in a risk of hospitalisation following the RSV infection,” he said.
GSK Malaysia and Brunei country medical director Dr Alap Gandhi said GSK’s combination of RSV antigen and adjuvant, or a medicine that increases or modifies the activity of the other ingredients, is designed to induce a robust immune response and help protect older adults and those with comorbidities.
“The adjuvanted RSV vaccine has been approved in 50 countries, launched in Malaysia a year after the launch in the US. The vaccine showed 82.6% overall vaccine efficacy against RSV-LRTD, with 94.6% efficacy observed in adults with comorbidities.
“Our goal with the vaccine is to help more Malaysians, particularly older adults, live healthy lives,” he said, adding that the vaccine would be available from next month.
He said the adjuvanted RSV vaccine had been approved for older adults aged 60 and above in the country, and it could transform efforts to reduce RSV’s burden on older adults, the healthcare system and society.
While RSV is a disease for all ages, the impact of RSV in adults aged 60 years and older in 2019 was significant, resulting in over 470,000 hospitalisations and 33,000 deaths in high-income countries.