Final call for Catch-Up RSV Immunisation for Babies
HSE Mid West is appealing to hundreds of parents across Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary to avail of free RSV immunisation in their local community, as the Pathfinder Catch-Up Programme ends this Friday.
This year’s RSV Pathfinder Programme introduced a catch-up initiative that allowed parents of babies (born between March 1 and August 31, 2025) to avail of this free immunisation at a HSE clinic in their community.
The catch-up RSV immunisation programme is scheduled to end this Friday, October 10, so we’re urging parents of eligible babies to book an appointment here:
https://myhealth.hse.ie/Scr100?source=216A7F48-FA91-48D4-8D1A-7D8F58FC463A
https://myhealth.hse.ie/Scr100?source=216A7F48-FA91-48D4-8D1A-7D8F58FC463A
The HSE is building on the success of last year’s RSV Immunisation Programme, where over 88% of mothers availed of the free immunisation for their babies born at University Maternity Hospital Limerick. This was one of the highest uptake rates in the country and preliminary figures show a similar rate of uptake this year. This part of the programme whereby newborns can be immunised before they are discharged home from UMHL will continue until the end of February 2026.
We would like to thank the hundreds of families availing of this programme, which is helping to significantly reduce respiratory infections, serious illness and hospitalisations among infants.
Before the introduction of the programme, each winter, 4 out of every 100 infants were hospitalised due to RSV, with some infants needing special treatment in intensive care units. A further 50 out of every 100 infants got RSV and many needed medical care from their GP, or the emergency department.
Dr Breda Cosgrove, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, Public Health HSE Mid West said: “As the winter season approaches, we expect to see cases of RSV begin to rise. Small babies under the age of 6 months are most at risk from serious illness but this year parents can protect their babies from RSV by getting them immunised. This immunisation – called nirsevimab – is strongly recommended by the HSE and the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and has been approved by the European Medicines Agency. Nirsevimab starts working as soon as the baby receives the injection and protects against RSV for about 150 days. It will protect your baby from getting very sick from RSV during the winter season when the virus will be circulating in the community.”
Headline statistics from the last winter programme include:
•Almost 22,500 babies were immunised.
•Nationally, 83% of those offered immunisation accepted it for their babies
•Among those immunised (compared to similar babies the previous year who were not immunised), there was a significant decrease in the impact of RSV including:
o65% reduction in total number of cases
o57% reduction in cases presenting to emergency departments;
o76% reduction in babies requiring hospitalisation
o65% reduction in babies needing intensive care due to complications of RSV
RSV is a largely seasonal respiratory illness that can affect any age group but can be particularly impactful on very young children. RSV is a significant cause of severe respiratory illness among children under two years of age and is also the most common cause of hospital admissions due to acute respiratory illness in young children. It can cause chest infections like bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lungs) in infants and the risk is highest in children aged less than six months of age.
The RSV immunisation programme is being delivered by trained midwives in all maternity settings after birth and before the baby is discharged, and by the immunisation teams in the community for children born between March 1 and August 31, 2025.