title: Respiratory syncytial virus: current and emerging treatment options.
abstract: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important respiratory pathogen in infants and children worldwide. Although RSV typically causes mild upper respiratory infections, it frequently causes severe morbidity and mortality, especially in premature infants and children with other chronic diseases. Treatment of RSV is limited by a lack of effective antiviral treatments; however, ribavirin has been used in complicated cases, along with the addition of intravenous immune globulin in specific patients. Vaccination strategies for RSV prevention are heavily studied, but only palivizumab (Synagis(®)) has been approved for use in the United States in very select patient populations. Research is ongoing in developing additional vaccines, along with alternative therapies that may help prevent or decrease the severity of RSV infections in infants and children. To date, we have not seen a decrement in RSV morbidity and mortality with our current options; therefore, there is a clear need for novel RSV preventative and therapeutic strategies. In this review, we discuss the current and evolving trends in RSV treatment for infants and children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Tiffany L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Kopp
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Lindsay C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Landgrave
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Rohan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thompson
keywords: bronchiolitis; lower respiratory tract infection; probiotics; respiratory syncytial virus; vitamin D