Overview
- Published in Science Translational Medicine, the St. Jude and Jackson Laboratory study analyzed blood from 19 RSV cases, 30 SARS-CoV-2 cases, and 17 healthy controls collected within 24 hours of admission.
- Both infections showed similar interferon-driven antiviral signaling despite striking downstream differences across immune cell types.
- RSV in infants was marked by low systemic inflammation, depleted and less functional natural killer cells, reduced interferon-gamma, and epigenetic reprogramming with dampened IL-1B and NF-κB activity.
- Infant SARS-CoV-2 cases displayed broad proinflammatory activation across cell types, including elevated TNF-alpha and increased NF-κB pathway activity.
- The authors caution against routine steroid use for RSV in infants and note that targeted anti-inflammatory therapy may benefit severe pediatric COVID-19.