Leading children's doctors have implored the government to urgently introduce a "game-changer" vaccine to prevent a virus which an Oxford-based organisation claims kills 83 young people every year.

According to the Oxford Vaccine Group, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) accounts for around 450,000 GP appointments, 29,000 hospital admissions and 83 deaths every year in children and adolescents in the UK, the majority in infants.

In June, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advised ministers that they should press ahead with a vaccination programme for the virus, for both babies and older adults.

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But the Government is yet to respond to the call.

Leading children's doctors said it was "too late" for the programme to be rolled out this winter but urged ministers to ensure the programme was in place for next year.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said every year RSV grinds children's hospital services to a "halt" and that a vaccination programme could ease the burden of the virus on both families and the pressures that it causes the NHS.

Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the RCPCH, told the PA news agency: "RSV is a massive problem every single winter. We've now got a way out of it. We just need to get on and do it."

She added: "We were thrilled when the joint committee published their guidance in support of a national rollout of an RSV vaccination programme and since then we've been waiting. I'm not reassured that much has happened in terms of next steps.

"I'm not in any way diminishing the fact that some very careful thought needs to be gone through to understand what's going to be the most efficient way of doing this and then the practicalities of how to do that.

"If we really want to make a difference for next winter - because this winter we're clearly too late to influence in any way in terms of RSV - we've really got to get our skates on.

"And so, as a college you know our message is very simple: please can we make this a priority.

"It could be a game-changer for the 2024/25 winter, but if we really want to make a difference for that winter, we've got to hurry up and make some decisions and get cracking."

She said this year had been particularly "bad" for RSV cases, adding: "Without a shadow of a doubt I can tell you that as a paediatrician every single winter RSV is a major problem.

"It is a big problem for babies and parents, but it's also a big problem for NHS services.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1