RSV immunisation program halves newborn hospitalisations

Researchers say Australia’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation program has cut hospital admissions for newborns by almost half in its first year – an early result described by one expert as ‘phenomenal’.
 
Launched in February 2025, the hybrid RSV Maternal and Infant Protection Program delivers targeted immunisation in both pregnant mothers and young babies.
 
It offers subsidised RSV immunisations to pregnant women, from 28 weeks’ gestation, under the National Immunisation Program. Newborns who did not receive protection during pregnancy are also eligible for the monoclonal antibody, nirsevimab, through state and territory funded programs.
 
To understand the impact and ‘real world’ effectiveness of these programs, researchers collaborated with 13 hospitals across Australia, recruiting 3743 children across 2025 – 2719 RSV-positive cases and 1024 test-negative controls.
 
The preliminary results, released on Friday, show RSV-associated hospitalisations fell by 43.8% in babies aged less than three months – the group at highest risk of severe RSV.
 
The program’s impact was also associated with a 20.1% reduction in hospitalisations in infants aged 3–6 months and 8.5% for babies aged 6–12 months.
 
It also found that when comparing to those who were not immunised, babies born to mothers who received the vaccine were 80% less likely to be admitted to hospital, and babies who received nirsevimab were 90% less likely to be admitted.
 
Lead researcher Dr Ushma Wadia said this shows both the maternal vaccination and immunisations for babies are ‘highly effective’ in providing protection against RSV.
 
‘These findings represent the first real-world evidence from the southern hemisphere demonstrating the effectiveness of a hybrid RSV prevention strategy at national scale,’ she said.
 
The study also found babies born between October 2024 and mid-February 2025 who received nirsevimab as part of a catch-up cohort received ‘strong protection’ against RSV, with 87% lower risk of hospital admission.
 
Dr Tim Jones, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Child and Young Person’s Health, said it is a ‘phenomenal impact that’s been demonstrated’.
 
‘To almost halve the number of kids under three months going to hospital with RSV is everything we want to see, and it mirrors what they’ve seen in other countries that have implemented RSV prevention programs,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘RSV in the first three months of life is not just a high chance of going to an intensive care unit for a baby, it’s horribly traumatic for families, and it increases the risk of their kids having chronic lung diseases like asthma, so to be able to switch that off is awesome.’
 
As winter draws closer, Dr Jones said now is a key time for GPs to speak with pregnant patients and parents of young babies about RSV, as some are still missing out on crucial information.
 
‘We trust that people going through the public hospital system for their antenatal care are getting their RSV vaccine, but what I’ve heard is that far too many people are just getting missed due to the busyness of the system,’ he said.
 
‘As GPs, we need to be seeing women during their pregnancies and making sure they’ve had a good discussion about why this is so important.
 
‘We’re also not catching quite enough of the babies whose mothers missed out and, going into winter right now, this is the time where we should be offering the very safe preventative immunisation for RSV to babies as well.’
 
National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance Associate Director, Professor Nick Wood, said RSV remains a leading cause of hospitalisation in young infants in Australia with limited treatment options once infected, placing significant pressure on families and hospitals.
 
‘Prior to the implementation of the RSV prevention program, about one in 50 children required hospitalisation for RSV in their first year of life, with almost all infants infected by age three,’ he said.
 
‘Seeing fewer very young babies admitted to hospital with RSV thanks to the new prevention products is a significant step forward in protecting babies from this nasty infection and helps ensure paediatric hospital beds and resources are available for those who need them most.’
 
Surveillance of the programs is ongoing and will inform future research to better understand how long protection from immunisation lasts and how the program performs over multiple RSV seasons.
 
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immunisation pregnancy respiratory syncytial virus RSV vaccines