Canberra, Nov 10 (IANS): The Australian government has said it will make vaccination against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) free for newborns and pregnant women starting in 2025.

Mark Butler, the minister for health, on Sunday, announced 174.5 million Australian dollars ($114.8 million) in funding to subsidise RSV vaccinations following a spike in cases in 2024.

According to the government, 12,000 Australian babies are admitted to hospital every year with severe cases of RSV -- a contagious virus mostly affecting young children that causes infections of the respiratory tract, reports Xinhua news agency.

Under the new program, women who are between 28 and 36 weeks pregnant will be eligible for a free vaccine from February, giving protection to their unborn children.

Additionally, all children younger than two years whose mothers were not immunised during pregnancy will also be eligible for free vaccination in winter when RSV infections typically occur.

The maternal RSV vaccine is currently only available in Australia to women in the late stages of pregnancy and costs up to 350 AUD ($230.3).

Australia has recorded over 165,000 cases of RSV so far in 2024, up from 128,117 in 2023 and 95,959 in 2022, according to data from the Department of Health's National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System.

Of the 2024 cases, 82,048 were recorded in children aged 0-4 and another 14,016 in those aged 5-9.