(Radio Iowa) – There are now two R-S-V vaccines approved by the F-D-A to protect people 60 and older from serious cases of the illness. Doctor Vanessa Ogundipe) of MercyOne in Sioux City says R-S-V is an upper respiratory virus.”For most people it’s very benign, causes mild symptoms such as coughing sneezing and kind of runny nose. But in infants and older adults and patients who are have lots of chronic medical conditions it can cause severe illness,” she says. Ogundipe says the two vaccines will soon be available.

“But the first one that was approved was G-S-K’s Arexvy (Uh-rex-vee), and it’s been approved for adults six years and older. So it works by preventing severe R-S-V or prevents severe lower respiratory tract infection in that age group,” Ogundipe says. “And then there’s a second vaccine Pfizer’s Abrysvo (Uh-breeze-voh, that’s also approved for adults 60 years and older.” She says Arexvy is a little different than Abrysvo.

“It boosts the body’s immune response. When you take it you’ll get more of an immune response which should help you protect yourself better,” she says. “And then the Pfizer R-S-V vaccine Abryso protects against both R-S-V A and B.” The vaccines are just need the D-D-C’s approval before they are distributed nationwide. She says there is also an R-S-V vaccine in the works for pregnant women that is hoped to be able to prevent the disease in their newborns.