Too many people still think RSV is just a bad cold
Each winter, Australia's most vulnerable populations face a respiratory threat that too often goes unrecognised until it becomes a crisis. Respiratory syncytial virus claimed 587 Australian lives last year and filled hospital wards with elderly patients and young children, yet it remains widely misunderstood as little more than a seasonal cold. This RSV Awareness Week, the Australian Medical Association is calling on Australians to treat prevention as a deliberate act — one that begins with a conversation between patient and doctor, and is now supported by newly funded vaccines on the National Immunisation Program.
- RSV killed 587 Australians last year and ranked as the third leading cause of respiratory viral hospitalisation in older adults — numbers that expose the virus as far more dangerous than public perception suggests.
- From May 2026, federal funding has extended RSV vaccines to Australians aged 75 and over and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 60 and over, marking a significant expansion of national protection.
- The maternal vaccination program, running since February 2025, has already reached more than 225,000 pregnant women and driven a 9 per cent drop in RSV cases among young children — from 86,000 to 78,000 in a single year.
- The AMA's Have the Jab Chat campaign is pushing back against both complacency and confusion, urging Australians to seek personalised vaccine advice from their GP rather than making assumptions about their own risk.
- With flu and COVID-19 vaccines also peaking in relevance as winter sets in, the RSV conversation is part of a broader call to treat the cold season as a moment for informed, individual preventive action.
Winter in Australia carries a hidden burden — respiratory syncytial virus, a pathogen widely underestimated until it sends a baby or an elderly parent to hospital. During RSV Awareness Week, the Australian Medical Association is making its case plainly: the virus is serious, vaccines now exist, and Australians should talk to their GP.
AMA president Dr Danielle McMullen is unambiguous about the stakes. Last year, RSV contributed to 587 deaths in Australia and was the third most common cause of respiratory viral hospitalisation among older adults. For babies, people over 75, and those with existing health conditions, the virus can escalate quickly from a cough to a critical illness.
The federal government has responded with action. Since May 2026, RSV vaccines have been available under the National Immunisation Program for Australians aged 75 and over, and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 60 and over. Maternal vaccination — funded earlier — allows pregnant women to pass protection to their newborns during the most vulnerable months of life.
The results of the maternal program are already visible. More than 225,000 women have been vaccinated since February 2025, and RSV cases in young children fell by over 9 per cent in a single year — from 86,000 cases to 78,000. That shift represents thousands of children spared serious illness, and it demonstrates that the vaccines work.
Still, McMullen stresses that vaccine decisions must be personalised. The AMA's Have the Jab Chat campaign encourages Australians — especially those uncertain or hesitant — to sit with a trusted GP and ask questions. The goal is not blanket vaccination, but informed choices shaped by individual risk, medical history, and circumstance. For many, winter need not be a season of inevitable illness — but that outcome begins with a conversation held before the cold arrives.
Winter in Australia brings more than cold snaps and shorter days. It brings respiratory syncytial virus—a pathogen that most people dismiss as a bad cold until it lands them or someone they love in a hospital bed. This week, as RSV Awareness Week unfolds, the Australian Medical Association is making a straightforward case: talk to your doctor about protection.
Dr Danielle McMullen, the AMA's president, is direct about what's at stake. RSV is not a minor seasonal inconvenience. For babies, for people over 75, for those already struggling with their health, the virus can trigger severe illness, hospitalisation, and death. Last year alone, 587 Australians died from complications involving RSV. Among older adults, it ranked as the third most common cause of respiratory viral hospitalisation. These are not edge cases or statistical anomalies—they are the lived reality of thousands of Australian families.
The good news is that vaccines now exist, and governments have begun funding them. In May 2026, the federal government added RSV vaccination to the National Immunisation Program for people aged 75 and older, as well as for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 60 and over. This follows an earlier decision to fund maternal vaccination, which pregnant women can receive to protect their newborns in those vulnerable first months of life.
The maternal vaccine program offers a window into what's possible. Since the vaccine became available in February 2025, more than 225,000 mothers have chosen to be vaccinated. The result is measurable: RSV cases among young children dropped by more than 9 per cent, falling from 86,000 cases in 2024 to 78,000 in 2025. That nine per cent represents thousands of children spared from serious illness. It is evidence that the vaccine works, and works well.
Yet awareness alone is not enough. McMullen emphasises that vaccine decisions are not one-size-fits-all. What protects one person may not be what another person needs. This is why the AMA is pushing Australians toward a conversation with their regular GP—someone who knows their medical history, their risk factors, their circumstances. Through the Have the Jab Chat campaign, the association is encouraging people who feel uncertain about vaccines to sit down with a doctor they trust and ask questions.
RSV Awareness Week serves as a prompt to do exactly that. It is a moment to step back, to check what protection is available, and to think about winter not as an inevitable season of illness but as a time when preventive action matters. That conversation might touch on RSV, but it might also cover flu and COVID-19 vaccines—other threats that peak when the weather turns cold. The point is not to vaccinate against everything indiscriminately, but to make informed choices based on individual risk.
For many Australians, that conversation will be straightforward: a GP will recommend vaccination, the patient will receive it, and winter will pass without serious illness. For others—those over 75, those expecting a baby, those with chronic conditions—the conversation will carry more weight. Either way, it is a conversation worth having before the season arrives.
Citas Notables
RSV was not just a winter nuisance but could cause severe illness, hospitalisation and death— Dr Danielle McMullen, AMA President
Vaccine advice is not one-size-fits-all. Your GP can explain what is recommended for you— Dr Danielle McMullen, AMA President
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does the AMA feel the need to push this message now, in June? Isn't RSV something people already know about?
Most people do know the name, but they don't know what it can do. They think it's a cold. The awareness week is a chance to correct that misunderstanding before winter actually hits.
The maternal vaccine numbers are striking—225,000 mothers in just over a year. Does that suggest high uptake, or is there still hesitation?
It's strong uptake, but it also means there are still pregnant women who haven't had the conversation with their doctor. The 9 per cent drop in child cases is real, but it could be larger.
What's the barrier? Cost?
Cost isn't it anymore—the vaccine is funded. It's more about awareness and trust. People need to hear from someone they know and trust that this matters. That's why the GP conversation is so central.
The 587 deaths last year—are those mostly elderly people, or is it spread across age groups?
The source doesn't break it down that way, but we know RSV is particularly dangerous for people over 75 and for babies. Those are the populations the new funding targets. The deaths are concentrated there.
So this is really about two vulnerable groups: the very young and the very old.
Exactly. And now there's a vaccine for each. For babies, it comes through the mother. For the elderly, it's direct vaccination starting at 75. The infrastructure is there. The question is whether people use it.