RSV in Babies and Adults

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The main thing that RSV does is it attacks the lining of the airways. It's almost like if you take a thin plastic straw and now because of the inflammation, it's suddenly made of this thick cardboard. The difference between kids and adults when it comes to respiratory viruses is the size of their airways. In babies, they both start in and much, much, much smaller than they do in adults.

A respiratory virus called RSV has a lot of kids in critical condition and hospitals overwhelmed. Vox public health reporter and epidemiologist Keren Landman explains newfound hope for a vaccine.

This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

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