Many parents know that winter not only means cold and flu season, but also high risks of their children being infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Each year, RSV infects as many as 125,000 children under 1-year of age and has been fatal to the elderly and those with weak immune systems. Now, thanks to advancements in RNA-interference technology, it appears a vaccine may be closer to development.

Researchers at the University of Georgia, led by Ralph Tripp, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Vaccine Development at the university’s College of Veterinary Medicine, used mice models to show that a prophylactic treatment of a small interfering RNA (siRNA) drug reduced RSV infection and disease pathogenesis. The drug also acted like a vaccine and protected against re-infection. The research team also showed that the amount of decrease in the viral load varied in proportion to the amount of drug that was administered.

According to the research team, the data suggest that siRNA drugs are likely to behave as effective vaccines for other viral diseases such as influenza and measles and may control outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases.

“Making siRNAs today is relatively simple because most disease causing viruses have been sequenced or have closely related cousins with conserved regions in their genes that can be targeted,” said Tripp in a university release.