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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-09-02 Daily Xml
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RSV Immunisation

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:02): My question is also to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister provide an update on how the government is protecting newborns and infants from RSV this season?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:02): Thank you very much to the member for Torrens. I thank her for this very important question in terms of how we can protect our youngest babies here in South Australia from RSV. Of course, RSV is a very dangerous disease, particularly for young infants.

Each year we see a significant number of young South Australians diagnosed with RSV and having to go to the emergency department, and sadly some of those pass away following complications with this infection. It impacts breathing, it impacts feeding and the ability to maintain oxygen levels, and of course it can be particularly concerning for infants under the age of one. This is why we are very delighted that this year the Malinauskas government has partnered with the Albanese federal government to introduce a two-phase way of helping to protect our young babies in South Australia.

Firstly, there is a maternal vaccine that is now being offered from the federal government through the National Immunisation Program. We are certainly recommending that all pregnant women get access to that maternal vaccine to protect their babies from RSV. We have seen a big uptake of that. We have seen many thousands of women going forward to receive that vaccine, and we are really positive about the uptake.

The element that the state government is providing—something that isn't eligible under the National Immunisation Program, because we really need to change those rules at the federal level about what is eligible—is what is called a monoclonal antibody. That monoclonal antibody can be given to infants to protect them after they are born. Where women haven't had the opportunity to be vaccinated during their pregnancy, we are now giving that monoclonal antibody to their infants.

Since this program has been rolled out, we have now seen that more than 3,400 infants have received that monoclonal antibody in South Australia. The results have been very positive. This, of course, gives protective antibodies to those children either, firstly, through the maternal vaccine, which will go from the mother through the placenta, providing important protection right from birth, or, secondly, directly to the child through the monoclonal antibody.

What we have seen is that this is helping to reduce infections and helping to reduce hospitalisations here in South Australia. For example, already for 2025 there has been an almost 50 per cent reduction in notifications for RSV for infants under one, compared to 2024. This result is despite there being no significant reduction for other age groups, which clearly shows the impact of that intervention for this age group.

At this time last year, there were 1,617 infants under the age of one who recorded a positive RSV notification, compared to 9,500 across all age groups. Although this season started later than in 2024, as of the data from last week, we have seen 818 infants under one with a positive RSV notification. That represents a significant decrease compared to last year.

What's really pleasing is that there has also been a 50 per cent reduction of those numbers in terms of infants who need hospitalisation. So we have reduced by 50 per cent the positive notifications, and we have reduced, of that 50 per cent, the number who have had to go to hospital. So it is about a 72 per cent reduction now of those young babies having to go to hospital with RSV.

At this stage in 2024, 284 infants under the age of one were hospitalised with RSV. That has dropped now to 79. That is a significant difference from the introduction of this program—a 72 per cent reduction of infants under the age of one who have had to go to hospital. I want to thank all of our healthcare staff who have rolled this out and all of the parents who have made sure that they are protecting their young babies.

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