ERS Congress 2024 -- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major global pathogen, predominantly affecting infants, often leading to bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD). RSV is mainly replicated in respiratory ciliated epithelium and analysis of patient samples with severe RSV has shown significantly elevated neutrophil and macrophage content, enriched with pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα, IL-6, IL-1a, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10 and IL-17, which impact the pathogenesis of RSV infection. Currently there are no licensed vaccines for this pathogen, and therefore the implementation of functional animal models for studying this virus is of high importance. This study aimed to establish a murine model of RSV infection, which induced clinical signs and inflammatory responses representative of human RSV infection.

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