PROMISE: countdown to the final act of eight game-changing years of Private Public Partnerships on RSV Disease and Preparation for Prevention

Like its predecessor RESCEU, PROMISE has made remarkable strides in advancing the fight against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Time to look back on its recent achievements and its contribution to advance scientific knowledge, public health strategies, and the prevention of RSV disease in vulnerable populations.

1. Understanding RSV Disease:

• Published new findings on RSV-Associated Hospitalization by socio-economic status and in Adults with co-morbidities.
• Published data from a prospective birth cohort involving 993 healthy infants across five European countries, revealing that non-medically attended RSV infections pose a significant societal burden.
• Systematically reviewed the validity of severity scores for RSV in children under 24 months and developed a simplified versions of the ReSVinet score, a tool for quantifying disease severity in infants with RSV.

2. RSV Epidemiology & Surveillance:

• Successfully conducted a survey on laboratory diagnostics and surveillance activities for RSV within European countries, emphasizing the need for harmonization and collaboration to advance diagnostics, preparedness, and surveillance.
• Launched the first European RSV surveillance bulletin for the 2023/24 season.
• Expanded the global understanding of RSV seasonality through systematic analysis on the impact of RSV subgroup distribution on seasonal epidemics globally.

3. Preparing for Prevention:

• Developed generic protocols for test-negative case-control and register-based cohort studies to evaluate the effectiveness of RSV prevention products, such as monoclonal antibodies and vaccines.

4. RSV Immune response:

• Published new findings on transcriptomic profiling of blood and airway monocytes, exploring the role of monocytes in severe RSV infection in infants.

5. Awareness Campaigns and Patient Engagement:

• Leveraged social media and community partnerships to raise awareness about RSV disease and prevention.
• Strengthened patient engagement to ensuring that the patient voice remains central to research and decision-making.

Conclusion:

Those achievements underscore the importance of PROMISE to the global fight against RSV and to advance readiness for RSV prevention in Europe. This initiative shows that private-public partnerships can play a key role in advancing the understanding of diseases and help to mitigate their impact on public health. A few more months of PROMISE are remaining with more achievements and inspiring collaboration.