GPs say they’re continuing to see respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in summer after Australia experienced a record 175,786 cases nationwide in 2024.
A total 86,205 (49 per cent) of those diagnosed with the disease were young children under four years old, according to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.
In 2024, Australia recorded its highest number of cases since the virus became notifiable in 2021.
RSV is the most common cause of respiratory infections in children, with an average of 12,000 babies ending up in hospital with the virus every year.
Symptoms include fever, a runny nose, a severe cough, difficulty breathing, sneezing and headache.
According to the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance Australia, there were more than 115,000 hospitalisations due to RSV nationwide between 2016 and 2019.
Dr Ramya Rayan, vice president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said RSV mainly affected young children and older people, particularly those with chronic medical conditions.
“As GPs on the ground, we are continuing to see RSV cases during summer as well,” she said.
“Partially that could be related to the fact that travel is back in full fold, noting that in the northern hemisphere is winter.
“So when people are travelling, they’re going to carry these bugs across from [their] countries.
She added precautions such as handwashing, sanitising, staying home while sick and wearing a mask when necessary would help stop the spread of RSV.
“It’s a common virus and it’s droplets-spread … it’s [about] the basic precautions that we’ve been talking about even during the pandemic and before,” she said.
The Australian Centre for Disease Control said in its annual report on RSV that cases of the highly contagious virus had been decreasing “since late May 2024”.
It added RSV activity had “remained low and stable across November” nationally, but the number of notifications was “almost 1.4 times higher” than in 2023.
“In the year to date, RSV notification rates have been the highest in children aged 0-4 years, followed by children aged 5-9 years,” the December report said.
The federal government announced earlier this month pregnant people would be offered a free RSV vaccine to protect them and their child from the virus.
The Abrysvo vaccine, part of a $174.5 million federal government investment in the National Immunisation Program, is available to people who are between 28 to 36 weeks pregnant.
Immunisation Coalition chairman Dr Rod Pearce AM said the vaccinations meant more protection going into winter.
“We know that [vaccines] protect the mother, but we also get antibody protection that the mother passes on to the baby for the first part of its life,” he said.
“So we’re going to have protection to the mother, protection to the baby, [and] we’ve got a monoclonal antibody we can give to a baby that’s vulnerable, so we can decrease infections [in] kids.”
Dr Raman said with increased education around RSV and vaccination, more people were aware of the virus and its severity.
“The college [does] advocate for vaccines recommended by the immunisation handbook,” she said.
“If you have a look at the adult population, a single dose of RSV vaccine is recommended for all adults aged 75 and above.”
“[This is] primarily because RSV hospitalisation rates increase with age, and people aged 75 and above are likely to have the greatest benefit from the vaccine.”
