HealthCentral: Which RSV Vaccine Is Right for You?
HealthCentral recently interviewed Cedars-Sinai pharmacist Jason Yee, PharmD, about the vaccines that protect against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Common in the fall and winter, RSV typically causes mild cold-like symptoms, but it can lead to severe complications, hospitalization and even death among older adults and infants.
Health officials recommend a one-time RSV vaccination—ideally now, in the autumn—for people 60 and older, high-risk individuals with a weakened immune system or chronic health conditions, people who live in nursing homes, and some pregnant women and infants.
Yee told HealthCentral that two of the three vaccines for RSV are protein-based and work in similar ways.
“Arexvy and Abrysvo deliver a specific protein that’s part of the virus, located on the outer shell of the virus, and that protein stimulates your immune system to develop antibodies to help fight the RSV virus,” he said.
A third RSV vaccine, mRESVIA, also stimulates the immune system but works by delivering a chemical “messenger,” or code, that instructs the body on how to make the virus-fighting protein.
Yee told HealthCentral that getting the RSV vaccine helps protect the community at large against severe infection.
“It’s important for the public to know that [vaccines like these] help provide a kind of herd immunity,” he said.
Yee told HealthCentral that people who meet the criteria to get vaccinated against RSV but have previously had serious allergic reactions to other vaccines should first speak with their doctor before getting the shot.
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