Almost all Queensland children will experience at least one RSV infection by the time they turn two, with the virus the most common cause of hospitalisations among infants and young children.
The highly contagious virus attacks the lungs and can spread quickly, particularly between little ones.
The State Government will invest $31.06 million to rollout a free Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) immunisation program to more than 70,000 newborn babies, eligible infants and young children.
While RSV can infect people of all ages, newborn babies and young children have tiny airways and what may seem like a cold, can rapidly turn severe, causing a range of respiratory illness including bronchiolitis or pneumonia.
Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services and Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman said, “We know caring for a little one can already be a stressful time for parents and this is an important step to help reduce the risk of contracting RSV and keeping our most vulnerable out of hospital.”
This year alone around 7,000 cases of RSV have been recorded in Queensland, which is double the number of cases in 2023 between the same period, 1 January to 24 March.
More than 2100 of the cases recorded so far this year are children under two years of age.
Last year, nearly 29,000 RSV cases were recorded. Of these, 9,703 cases were recorded among children under two years and hospital admissions accounted for more than 5,000 occupied paediatric bed days, of which 3,525 were for infants under one year of age.
Free immunisation against RSV will be available for newborns, eligible infants, and young children
