Immunostimulatory Defective Viral Genomes from Respiratory Syncytial Virus Promote a Strong Innate Antiviral Response during Infection in Mice and Humans.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of severe respiratory illness in children and susceptible adults. RSV blocks the development of the innate antiviral immune response and can grow to high titers in the respiratory tract. Here we demonstrate that immunostimulatory defective viral genomes (iDVGs) that are naturally generated during RSV replication are strong inducers of the innate antiviral response to RSV in mice and humans.