She said the "much lower levels of population immunity against RSV" was explained by the Covid-19 response which then led to "exceptionally high RSV activity" in the past five weeks. The New Zealand Herald had approached the country's six biggest hospitals to find the impact of RSV since April. Auckland District Health Board confirmed last night that six patients who had RSV had died. She said specialist advisors for the Child Youth and Mortality Review Committee (CYMRC) and the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC) also had no information on RSV deaths. • Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a highly contagious virus causing lung and respiratory tract infections.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 04, 2021 08:26 UTC