Global health R&D at work in North Dakota
Researchers at the University of North Dakota (UND) are studying how, at a cellular level, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes inflammation of the lungs. While RSV typically causes cold-like symptoms in healthy adults, it can be deadly for infants, particularly those living in low-resource settings worldwide who cannot access hospital care during severe cases. Globally, RSV is the second leading cause of death during the first year of a baby’s life. The research at UND could lead to a better understanding of this disease and thus, improved approaches to treat it. While RSV vaccines were recently approved for adults over 60 years of age, there are no approved vaccines for infants nor specifically approved therapeutics.