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Innate Immune Responses To Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Age-Associated Changes, Terianne Maiko Wong
Innate Immune Responses To Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Age-Associated Changes, Terianne Maiko Wong
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection causes ~64 million cases of respiratory disease and 200,000 deaths annually worldwide, yet there is no broadly effective prophylactic or treatment regimen. RSV can produce acute respiratory illness in patients of all ages but strikes the age extremes, infants and the elderly, with highest frequency presumably due to innate immune deficiencies. A higher morbidity and mortality has been reported for the elderly above 65 years of age, which has been attributed to immune senescence. Efforts to generate an effective vaccine have thus far been unsuccessful.
The innate immune system provides the first line of defense …