Offering free maternal vaccination to pregnant women led to a 43.8% reduction in RSV-associated hospitalisations in the first three months of life.
A new report from The Kids Research Institute Australia, the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance and Monash University has highlighted the benefits of Australia’s hybrid immunisation program against respiratory syncytial virus.
The new immunisation program, the RSV Mother and Infant Protection Program, was launched in February 2025.
As part of the RSV-MIPP, pregnant women are provided with free access to maternal RSV vaccination through the National Immunisation Program. Newborns who did not receive RSV protection through pregnancy or who are deemed to be at higher risk of severe infection receive the monoclonal antibody nirsevimab at a later stage.
The impact and effectiveness of the RSV-MIPP was assessed through the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance (PAEDS) – Influenza Complications Alert Network (FluCAN), a national hospital-based surveillance network that receives data from 13 hospitals across the country, with the results of the assessment published in March 2026.
“These findings represent the first real-world evidence from the southern hemisphere demonstrating the effectiveness of a hybrid RSV prevention strategy at national scale,” said lead researcher Dr Ushma Wadia, a clinician-scientist at the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, in a statement to media.
“Babies born to mothers who received the vaccine were 80% less likely to be admitted to hospital with RSV and babies who received nirsevimab 90% less likely to be admitted compared with those who were not immunised.
““We also found that babies born between October 2024 and mid-February 2025 who received nirsevimab as part of a catch-up cohort received strong protection against the virus, with 87% lower risk of admission with RSV.”
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In addition, the number of RSV-related hospitalisations in 2025 decreased by 43.8% in infants under three months (compared to 2024), by 20.1% in infants aged three to less than six months and by 8.5% in children between six and 12 months. There was no such reduction in children aged one year and older.
Professor Nick Wood, NCRIS associate director and paediatrician, said reducing the number of babies hospitalised due to RSV was “a significant step forward”, and meant there would be less pressure on families and hospitals alike.
“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,” they said in a statement.
“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.”
Data collection through PAEDS-FluCAN will continue and will help shape future research studies to better understand how long the protective benefits of immunisation last and how well the immunisation program performs in years to come.
Read the full PAEDS-FluCAN report here.
