Common respiratory virus manipulates immune genes to protect itself

Nearly everyone gets infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) repeatedly over the course of a lifetime, starting in childhood. Most times, people fight off the virus handily and only end up with a mild cold. But some people — most often young children experiencing their first infection or older adults whose immunity has waned — develop pneumonia or bronchiolitis, serious lung infections that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes death.