Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of upper and lower respiratory tract infections in infants and young children, and the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children younger than 1-year of age. A vaccine does not exist in part because RSV non-structural protein genes (NS1 and NS2) suppress the immune system rendering the host unable to elicit an appropriate adaptive immune response. Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and University of South Florida have identified mutations in NS1 and NS2 that allow the virus to induce a measurable interferon response, thus a more robust adaptive immune response. Their findings have built a solid foundation that could be exploited to generate a more immunogenic RSV vaccine.