Protect yourself by having the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)vaccine
From 1st September, the new RSV Vaccine will be available to the following cohorts of patients:
- turning 75 years of age on or after 1 September 2024
- Are already aged 75 to 79 years old on 1 September 2024.
What is RSV?
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is an infectious disease of the airways and lungs. RSV infection often causes symptoms similar to a cold, including cough, sore throat, sneezing and runny or blocked nose. It can also make you become wheezy or short of breath and lead to pneumonia and other life-threatening conditions. There is no specific treatment, and most infections will get better by themselves. Every year, thousands of older adults need hospital care for RSV, and some of them will die.
Why is RSV vaccination important?
- The first season of the older adult’s catch-up programme could prevent around 2,500 hospital admissions, 15,000 GP visits and 60,000 RSV illnesses in older adults.
- The RSV vaccination programme could typically prevent 5,000 hospitalisations and 15,000 emergency department attendances for infants if uptake among in pregnant women was 60%. It could mean 70,000 fewer RSV illnesses in infants under 12 months, 20,000 fewer GP consultations and avoid more than 200 infants being admitted to intensive care.
Appointments & Invitations
Appointments will be available throughout the year, please await your invitation
Find out about respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), including the symptoms, when to get medical help and how to reduce the risk of getting it Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Find out about the RSV vaccine, including who it’s for, how to get it and common side effects RSV vaccine – NHS (www.nhs.uk)