Abstract
Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) causes substantial morbidity and mortality in vulnerable patients, such as the very young, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals of any age. Nosocomial transmission of HRSV remains a serious challenge in hospital settings, with intervention strategies largely limited to infection control measures, including isolation of cases, high standards of hand hygiene, cohort nursing, and use of personal protective equipment. No vaccines against HRSV are currently available, and treatment options are largely supportive care and expensive monoclonal antibody or antiviral therapy. The limitations of current animal models for HRSV infection impede the development of new preventive and therapeutic agents, and the assessment of their potential for limiting HRSV transmission, in particular in nosocomial settings. Here, we demonstrate the efficient transmission of HRSV from immunocompromised ferrets to both immunocompromised and immunocompetent contact ferrets, with pathological findings reproducing HRSV pathology in humans. The immunocompromised ferret-HRSV model represents a novel tool for the evaluation of intervention strategies against nosocomial transmission of HRSV.
Highlights
Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the leading cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection in children less than 5 years of age, with high hospitalization rates in infants younger than 6 months [1]
All donor ferrets inoculated with HRSV either intra-tracheally or intra-nasally
Immunocompromised ferrets inoculated with HRSV can transmit the virus to contact ferrets that are either immunocompromised or immunocompetent
Summary
Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the leading cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection in children less than 5 years of age, with high hospitalization rates in infants younger than 6 months [1]. It causes significant morbidity in adults, and contributes to excess mortality in older individuals and immunocompromised individuals of any age [2,3]. In the latter, infection may be prolonged and often complicated by bacterial co-infection, leading to pneumonia and severe respiratory distress [4]. In the absence of an effective vaccine, HRSV treatment options are largely limited to supportive care and expensive monoclonal antibody or antiviral therapy [7,8]
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