By Kashish Tandon and Bhanvi Satija

Oct 1 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization on

Tuesday recommended vaccinating pregnant women and administering

infants with an antibody to prevent severe respiratory synctial

virus (RSV) infection in newborns.

RSV, which typically causes cold-like symptoms, is a leading

cause of severe infection and death in babies and older adults.

A majority of RSV-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income

countries, with about 101,400 annual deaths in children under

the age of five, according to the WHO.

WHO recommended a single shot for pregnant women, in the

third trimester that typically starts at 28 weeks, to protect

their babies.

Pfizer's ( PFE ) RSV shot, sold as Abrysvo, is the only

available vaccine in the United States and Europe for use in

pregnant women. It is also approved in a few other markets such

as Japan and Canada.

For infants and toddlers, Sanofi and AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) antibody,

Beyfortus, is again the only approved shot in the U.S., United

Kingdom and some other countries - but its supply has been

limited.

The manufacturers recently received approval for an

additional manufacturing line for Beyfortus from the U.S. Food

and Drug Administration.

WHO's strategic advisory group noted the concerns around

supply and the high cost of the antibody, which it said could

seriously limit global access and equity for the treatment.

"We are looking forward to more products to enter the market

to allow for global access and increase the equity to use these

products," said Hanna Nohynek, chair of WHO's strategic advisory

group on immunizations.

This time WHO's advisory group focused on children, Nohynek

said, adding that it had received requests from several

countries about recommendations for the elderly.

WHO executive Joachim Hombach said there were challenges to

implement recommendations for older adults, as many countries

did not have vaccination programs in place for that age group.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru;

Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)