Credit: REUTERS/JOHANNA GERONAdds background and details throughout
Aug 24 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday approved U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's PFE.N vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to protect both babies and older adults in the European Union.
The approval makes the vaccine, which is sold under the brand name Abrysvo, the first to protect infants up to six months of age from the virus when given to pregnant women.
RSV typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but is a leading cause of pneumonia in toddlers and the elderly, causing thousands of hospitalizations and deaths each year.
Earlier this week, the U.S. health regulator greenlighted the vaccine for use in women during the middle of the third trimester of pregnancy to protect their babies.
Sanofi SASY.PA and partner AstraZeneca's AZN.L long-acting therapy against RSV infections was approved last year by the European Commission for use in infants.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Shailesh Kuber)
((Sriparna.Roy@thomsonreuters.com;))
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