RSV Vaccination Effective in Older Adults

According to a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) led review, vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are both safe and effective in protecting groups who are most at risk for serious illness, including older adults and infants.

This international group of researchers analyzed 14 clinical trials spanning all continents, involving over 100,000 participants, including older adults, pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and children.

Results showed strong evidence that the RSV prefusion vaccines in older adults reduce RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease, such as pneumonia and bronchitis, by 77% and RSV-associated acute respiratory disease (e.g., a cold) by 67%.

"It's important to be clear that our review is based on evidence from randomised trials, the strongest evidence available," said Kate Olsson, author and ECDC vaccine expert, in a press release on September 30, 2025.

"Post authorisation, real-world studies are ongoing and data from those studies will continue to add to what we know about the safety and effectiveness of these RSV vaccines."  

RSV is a common virus that causes coughs and colds, but can also lead to life-threatening lung infections, such as pneumonia.

Children under the age of two months are at the highest risk of severe RSV infection and death, and have the additional option of receiving one of the approved monoclonal antibody therapies.

Initially available in 1998, RSV antibody therapies have recently been reported to be over 50% effective in reducing RSV in children.

The systematic review is planned to be complemented by two additional analyses on the efficacy, effectiveness, and safety of different RSV vaccines following updates to the search. ECDC intends to publish the first update with new data in the coming weeks.

In the United States, RSV vaccines and antibody therapies are offered in all communities.

As of late September 2025, the U.S. CDC reported that the number of acute respiratory illness cases and wastewater levels, including those caused by RSV, are at low or very low levels in all states.