Infants will be able to receive a free immunisation to protect them against serious illness from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), under a new $16.6 million NSW Government RSV prevention program to begin next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RSV is a major cause of respiratory illness infecting up to 90 per cent of children within the first two years of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It can affect anyone, but the infection is more severe in children under one year of age, who may develop bronchiolitis or pneumonia requiring hospitalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year there have been about 70,000 cases of RSV detected in people who were tested in NSW to 7 November. More than 10,000, or 15 per cent, of the cases were among children aged under twelve months old. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The RSV prevention program will see the NSW Government fund nirsevimab, a type of monoclonal antibody immunisation, from mid-March for babies who are not protected through maternal vaccination, and those at increased risk of severe RSV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From early 2025, pregnant women will be offered a free vaccine, recommended at 28-36 weeks of pregnancy, under the National Immunisation Program, which will in turn protect their newborn infant from RSV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As at September this year, the existing NSW RSV vulnerable babies program provided nirsevimab to more than 4,500 vulnerable infants, among whom 86 per cent were aged under six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preliminary data shows the program resulted in a 25 per cent reduction in RSV notification rates in all infants less than six months old, compared to children aged 12-18 months, very few of whom received nirsevimab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone can help reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses, including RSV. There are some simple steps people can take to help protect themselves, their loved ones and community including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For further information on how to protect yourself and others from RSV visit the NSW Health website: https:\/\/www.health.nsw.gov.au\/Infectious\/factsheets\/Pages\/respiratory-syncytial-virus.aspx#<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Health Ryan Park:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe NSW Government is committed to ensuring all infants are protected against serious illness from RSV through the rollout of this prevention program in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is nothing more stressful than having a sick baby, especially when it is something potentially serious like RSV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis program will ensure all infants who are not protected through maternal vaccination will be offered immunisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis program model will help keep babies out of hospital and at home with their family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n NSW Health Executive Director of Health Protection Dr Jeremy McAnulty:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis program will protect our youngest and most vulnerable infants in NSW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know RSV can have a significant impact on the health of infants, especially on those aged under one year of age. Every year some children get very sick and need hospital treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe encourage pregnant women to get an RSV vaccination to protect their baby from RSV next year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will offer protection to all babies in NSW, either through maternal vaccination or by offering nirsevimab, which significantly reduces an infant\u2019s risk of hospitalisation from RSV.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Infants will be able to receive a free immunisation to protect them against serious illness from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), under a new $16.6 million NSW Government RSV prevention program to begin next year. RSV is a major cause of respiratory illness infecting up to 90 per cent of children within the first two years … Continue reading “NSW to rollout new free RSV prevention program in 2025”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30075,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30074\/revisions\/30075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}