title: Immunoprophylaxis and immunotherapy: role in the prevention and treatment of repiratory syncytial virus.
abstract: It is now apparent that neutralizing antibody may play an important role in ameliorating RSV lower repiratory tract illness. At the present time immunoprophylaxis and immunotherapy with polyclonal antibodies show the most promise in the prevention and treatment of RSV illness. Several questions remained to be answered. These include the practical application of IGIV in prevention and treatment of RSV illness. Intravenous lines are often difficult to place and maintain. With the further development of polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies it may be possible to immunize prospective donors and boost their anti RSV titers to the degree that a hyper-immune IGIV with sufficient antibody to be given intramuscularly could be produced. The role for RSV-specific monoclonal antibodies for disease prevention or treatment must be defined as well as the appropriatee viral epitopes to target. In the absence of a safe and effective vaccine, it is clear that, despite these questions passive immunotherapy and immunoprophylaxis offers the greatest hope for the prevention and treatment of RSV disease in high risk infants and children.
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital, Denver, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Groothuis
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Simoes