A new study will expose healthy adult volunteers to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a virus that causes cold-like symptoms in adults. Better understanding of how adults develop RSV infection and immune system responses to infection will assist researchers in developing and testing future antivirals and vaccines to combat the virus. The research is being conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

RSV is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections—including pneumonia and bronchiolitis mdash—among young children worldwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The NIAID pilot study, led by Lesia K. Dropulic, M.D., of NIAID’s Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, will enroll up to 60 healthy men and non-pregnant women ages 18 to 50.

NIAID investigators, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, will analyze participant samples to measure levels of virus shedding and immune protection. Participants will be discharged from the Clinical Center once they have two consecutive negative tests for RSV and no symptoms of RSV-associated respiratory tract illness.

The FDA approved the testing of RSV A2 in healthy people, and an independent data and safety monitoring board composed of clinical research experts will closely monitor participant safety throughout the trial.