Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

What is RSV?

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a virus which commonly causes respiratory infections in young children, but it can affect people of all ages.

Most of the time, RSV causes a mild illness with common cold-like symptoms, but sometimes RSV can cause pneumonia, trigger asthma, and in very young children cause bronchiolitis or breathing problems. RSV can also make older people severely unwell. Most children by the age of two are likely to have had RSV, but you can catch it many times in your life.

A vaccine for RSV is available for pregnant women and adults aged 60 years and older to prevent illness and severe complications associated with RSV infection.

There is no specific medicine for most RSV infections – like other common cold and flu viruses, the body’s immune system will fight off the infection over a week or two. However, RSV can be serious, especially for young infants or older adults. 

What are the symptoms of RSV?

RSV usually has very mild symptoms, such as:

• Runny nose
• Cough
• Wheezing
• Fever

Signs and symptoms of more severe illness include:

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Worsening cough and/or coughing up mucus
• Refusal to feed or drink water (in children and babies)

If you aren't sure about your symptoms, or your child’s symptoms, it is best to have them checked by a doctor.

How does RSV spread?

RSV is spread between people by droplets from sneezes and coughing. 

The virus can survive for a few hours on surfaces, so spread could also occur from touching a contaminated surface or person, and then touching your face.

People may be infectious for up to 8 days after their symptoms started.

RSV Vaccine

RSV vaccines are currently available on the private market and recommended to protect the following groups who have the highest burden of RSV hospitalisation and are likely to have the greatest benefit from vaccination. 

Older adults: 

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 60 years and older are recommended to receive RSV vaccine 
  (Arexvy or Abrysvo)
• All adults aged 75 years and older are recommended to receive RSV vaccination (Arexvy or Abrysvo)
• Adults aged 60 to 74 years with medical conditions that increase their risk of severe disease due to RSV are recommended to receive RSV vaccination (Arexvy or Abrysvo). All other adults aged 60 to 74 years can consider 
  RSV vaccination.

Young infants: 

• Pregnant women are recommended to receive an RSV vaccine (Abrysvo) during pregnancy from 28 weeks gestation.
• Vaccination of pregnant women provides protection to young infants in their first months of life (through transfer of antibodies from mother to baby), when most vulnerable to serious RSV disease. 

Can I tell RSV apart from COVID-19 or influenza?

No – RSV, COVID-19 and Influenza have many similar symptoms, and all can cause mild to severe illnesses. 

If you are at risk of severe illness, it is important you have a plan in place for respiratory testing and treatment, in consultation with your General Practitioner.

Treatment for RSV

There is no antiviral medication for RSV, children however may need medical treatment for the management of severe infections. Less commonly, RSV can cause pneumonia in adults.

Speak to your usual GP or health care provider if you test positive to RSV and are concerned about your symptoms. If you don't have a regular GP, contact Healthdirect on 1800 022 222 or an after-hours doctor for advice. To find out more go to know your treatment options.

Most people can look after themselves at home and will recover in a week or two. You can manage your symptoms by:

• Staying home and resting.
• Taking over-the-counter medicine like paracetamol or ibuprofen if you have a fever, headache or muscle aches. Carefully follow the instructions on how much paracetamol or ibuprofen to take.
• Drinking lots of water. You can also use hydration solutions to help stay hydrated.
• Seeing your doctor if your symptoms are getting worse. Let them know you have respiratory symptoms.

Care for eligible people who have RSV may be available through Care@home.

Care@home

Care@home provides remote support in the home for people who have COVID-19 and people with other respiratory illnesses who meet specific referral criteria. This includes eligible people who have RSV.

Learn more about Care@home.

People enrolled in Care@home will have access to remote healthcare in the home. Depending on your individual circumstances, you may also be provided with a kit containing devices specifically designed for the Care@home environment. These devices enable the Care@home team to monitor your symptoms and recovery.

How to prevent the spread of RSV

Maintaining simple behaviours will help stop the spread of respiratory infections including RSV, COVID-19 and the flu.

• Stay home - the best way to stop viruses from spreading is to stay at home when you are sick. This means not going to childcare or day-care, school, work, or social and sporting events until symptoms have resolved.
• Wash your hands - use soap and warm water or alcohol-based hand sanitiser to prevent the spread of this virus. Clean hands regularly, particularly before eating, after touching surfaces or objects that may be contaminated and after coughing, sneezing or handling tissues.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes - sneeze or cough into tissues, or your elbow and clean your hands afterwards. This helps stop spread to other people.

It is also important to ensure frequently touched surfaces like door handles, benches and toys are thoroughly and regularly cleaned to stop the spread of illness in a facility or at home.

Clean first with detergent to remove dirt and most of the germs, then use a disinfectant such as bleach. Check the product label first, but household-strength liquid bleach (usually sold around 5% strength sodium hypochlorite) should be diluted - one part bleach for every nine parts water. Leave the bleach on the surface for at least 10 minutes to kill the virus, then it can be wiped off with a damp cloth.

For more information

• To find out more about RSV see the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne website and Healthdirect website.
• For RSV vaccination recommendations refer to the Australian Immunisation Handbook.
• For more information on acute respiratory infection surveillance go to RespTas Report
• If you have a specific query about RSV, you can call the Communicable Diseases Prevention Unit via the Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738.