Winter ills and RSV vaccinations

Health New Zealand has been adding extra staff and beds and increasing community care to get ready for the pressures of winter ills.The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine says many New Zealand hospitals are already operating at, or above, 100 percent capacity even before the peak of the flu season.Among the suite of potentially severe winter illnesses is the highly infectious RSV - or respiratory syncytial virus. The disease often affects young children and while there is no vaccine approved for babies, those at most risk of hospitalisation can qualify for a preventative treatment that helps stave off the illness, but requires monthly injections. There is a vaccine approved for adults, but patients must pay the full cost. Economic modelling of the benefits of the vaccine use in adults indicate it could help prevent thousands of hospitalisations and visits to accident and emergency departments. Kathryn talks to Dr Hasan Bhally an infectious disease doctor at North Shore Hospital.