Nine people across the country have died after being infected with RSV this winter – including six in the central Auckland suburbs.

ESR public health physician Dr Sarah Jefferies said the prevalence of RSV was likely the result of lower population immunity due to the isolation of Covid-19 in New Zealand l last year and the increase in movements since then.

She said the “much lower levels of immunity in the population to RSV” was explained by the response of Covid-19 which then led to “unusually high RSV activity” over the past five weeks.

Jeffries said the rate of RSV is dropping, but that could be because recent school vacations have interrupted transmission in children. She warned “when the kids go back to school we may see another increase.”

The NZ Herald had approached the six largest hospitals in the country to determine the impact of respiratory syncytial virus since April.

The Auckland District Health Board confirmed last night that six RSV patients had died. A spokeswoman said RSV may not have been the cause of death.

A spokesperson for the Canterbury District Health Council said a patient died of “RSV-related complication” and “pre-existing conditions” during this winter’s outbreak. He did not specify the patient’s age.

Capital and Coast DHB also reported an adult death linked to RSV, but said none of the children admitted to its intensive care units died as of yesterday afternoon.

And the Herald previously reported the death of a 63-year-old woman in north Auckland who had been infected with the virus. She died at her Stanmore Bay home after being discharged from North Shore Hospital last month.

Chief Health Officer Ashley Bloomfield said last month RSV was a “classic” disease New Zealand has seen most winters.

“We had very few RSVs last year, but this year we are seeing the usual increase that we have seen before and there is speculation that this could be partly exacerbated because we did not have any. last year, so there is a bigger pool. “

DHBs across the country continued to struggle against a high demand for people with the highly contagious virus, but the latest figures from environmental science and research (ESR) showed hospitalization rates were on the decline.

At six of New Zealand’s major hospitals, the number of people admitted for RSV reached 951 in the week ending Monday, July 18. However, in the week ending Monday, July 25, that number dropped to 787.

As of July 25, there had been a total of 4,434 RSV hospitalizations at these six main hospitals.

Southland DHB chief medical officer Dr Nigel Millar said RSV appeared to have eased in southern hospitals, with much smaller numbers of children hospitalized with the virus and other respiratory illnesses.

“From late June until most of July, the Children’s Wards at Southland Hospitals and the Children’s Unit at Dunedin Hospital were extremely busy caring for children with RSV and other illnesses.

“By the third week of July, the situation in Southland had started to ease, but the occupancy rate in Dunedin increased slightly,” said Millar.

The Herald asked how many deaths these hospitals had recorded and here’s the answer:

Auckland – 6

Manukau Counties – 0

Waitemata – 0 at DHB. 1 63 years after the patient was discharged from the hospital.

Waikato – 0

Capital and Coast & Hutt Valley – 1 adult

Canterbury – 1 adult

Southern countries – 0

The Health Quality & Safety Commission, an independent body that reviews adverse hospital events, had “no readily available data” on RSV-related deaths, a spokesperson said.

She said expert advisers from the Infant and Child Mortality Review Committee (CYMRC) and Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC) also had no information on RSV deaths. These committees collectively report on deaths of babies and children up to the age of 24.

ESR continued to receive reports of new outbreaks, most recently in three early childhood centers and five residential care centers for the elderly.

Of the severe acute respiratory infection (Sari) cases monitored in four “sentinel” hospitals in Auckland, about a third were for RSV.

Last year’s lockdown reduced transmission and reduced rates by 98%, as has also happened with the flu and other seasonal illnesses.

But it remains less clear how this year’s ordeal arose.

Because Australia had already recorded outbreaks of RSV – and the explosion of cases in New Zealand coincided with the opening of non-quarantine trips – scientists strongly suspected the virus had been reseeded across Tasman.

What is RSV?

• Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a highly contagious virus that causes infections of the lungs and respiratory tract.

• A person infected with RSV transmits the virus in droplet form when they cough, sneeze or speak.

• Very young children and premature babies can become very sick and require hospitalization. In this age group, RSV can cause bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lungs) and pneumonia (infection of the lungs).

• Most adults and older children with RSV will have symptoms similar to those of the common cold. But older people, people with weakened immune systems, and those with heart or lung problems are also at higher risk of getting RSV.

• Many children will be able to recover from this disease at home, but some will be admitted to the hospital to support their nutrition and receive additional oxygen if needed.