ADVICE HAS BEEN given to the Department of Health on a new public strategy to tackle the spread of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

A newer drug that requires fewer doses has been found to be as effective as the current drug used to protect people from the virus, which largely affects babies.

In healthy people, infection with RSV can be managed without needing to see a doctor. However, hospitalisation is common among some groups, such as infants aged under one year, premature babies, children aged under two years with certain medical conditions and adults over 65.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) looked at the cost of immunising different groups of infants and older adults for the 2025-2026 RSV season.

RSV infects the lungs and upper airways. It spreads every winter, with the RSV season in Ireland typically running from October to March.

Currently in Ireland, a small number of children who are at high risk of severe disease are offered a drug called palivizumab, also known as Synagis.

Since 2022, a new drug called nirsevimab (or Beyfortus) has been approved. It’s not a vaccine, but laboratory-made antibodies which stimulate the immune system, providing protection against RSV.

While palivizumab has to to be administered monthly during the RSV season, nirsevimab is long-acting, meaning only one dose is needed to protect infants for one RSV season.

The report given to the Department of Health states that not only would niresevibam be more convenient for parents due to fewer appointments, it would be cheaper for the HSE to provide.

HIQA estimates that the cost of immunising infants would range from €3.9 million to €19 million depending on the approach taken.

It is expected that these costs would be partially offset by the fact that fewer infants would require hospital care.

In 2022, almost 4,000 children in Ireland aged 0 to 4 years tested positive for RSV. Of these, almost 2,500 were admitted to hospital.

Most of these hospital admissions happen over a short time period (between October and December).

“This makes it very challenging for the hospitals and can disrupt routine care (for example, planned surgeries) for other children,” the report says.

A smaller proportion of adults who contract the virus require hospitalisation.

“We found that the cost of vaccinating older adults would be much higher due to the large number of people involved.

“Offering the vaccine to everyone aged 65 years and older was estimated to cost €146 million, while it would cost €76.2 million if only offered to those aged 75 years and older.

“As the number of older people who are hospitalised due to RSV is relatively small, the potential cost savings to the HSE from reducing hospital admissions is also small (between €0.9 million and €1.2 million).”

HIQA added that, aside from the cost of providing immunisation to these groups, there would be additional costs associated with organising any RSV immunisation programme. It’s estimated to be around €2.3 million.