AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 AbstractNov 12, 2026, 00:14 GMT

Respiratory syncytial virus vaccine showed similar effectiveness

Compared with no vaccination, estimated effectiveness against virus-related respiratory hospitalization was 100% with neurological or cerebrovascular disease (zero versus one event) and 82.4% without.

Paper by Marat Yafasov, Mats H⊘jbjerg Lassen, Niklas Dyrby Johansen, +31Tor Biering-Srensen · Gentofte Hospital

Dark blue-green lungs with open airways sit beside congested gray lungs, surrounded by virus particles, an antibody, and small brains.

Our read

Interventions

Studied:: Randomized trial in adults aged 60 years or older
What changed:: Vaccine effectiveness against RSV-related respiratory hospitalization was similar: 100% with neurological/cerebrovascular disease versus 82.4% without
The catch:: Only one RSV-related respiratory hospitalization occurred among participants with neurological or cerebrovascular disease

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper

Adults aged 60 or older in Denmark took part in an open-label randomized trial of a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine. The trial assigned 65,642 participants to vaccination and 65,634 to no vaccine. Participants knew their assignment.

This prespecified secondary analysis compared participants with and without neurological or cerebrovascular disease—conditions affecting the nervous system or blood vessels in the brain. Outcomes came from nationwide health registries. Rates of almost all measured outcomes were higher among participants with these conditions. Vaccine effectiveness against virus-related respiratory hospitalization was similar across the groups. Estimates for broader respiratory and heart-related hospitalizations favored vaccination, but their ranges of likely values included no difference. Vaccination was not associated with increased hospitalizations for nervous-system conditions.

Why it matters

Neurological and cerebrovascular disease put older adults at higher risk of severe illness after respiratory syncytial virus infection. The analysis addressed whether those conditions changed the benefit of vaccination.

Caveats

Only one virus-related respiratory hospitalization occurred among participants with neurological or cerebrovascular disease, leaving that subgroup’s effectiveness estimate very uncertain. The trial enrolled adults aged 60 or older in Denmark.